One Week in my Enemy's House
by kei-puff
Summary: Rich, smoking hot, smart and everything girls dream of in a guy. Who wouldn't want to spend a week in Sasuke Uchiha's mansion?  Sakura Haruno-that's who. One week of twisted faces, tears, laughs and pure drama. What's next?
1. Hate, Dislike and Other Things

**Finally!** So here's that chapter I promised you-all revised and refreshed! I'm so excited for you guys to read it and tell me what you think.

I have edited this chapter because some parts of it weren't plausible. Thanks to Toyoko for pointing out that fact to me and actually making me go back to re-read and edit this chap and two others. Please review.

**Disclaimer: I really don't own Naruto but a girl can dream-lol**

Hate, Dislike and Other Things

Sasuke lay with his back towards his bed in his huge dark room. He stared aimlessly at the navy-blue painted walls while he listened to his i-pod so loudly that he couldn't hear it when one of the maids was calling him for dinner.

She stood outside knocking as gently as she could at his heavy dark-blue door covered in skulls and a sign which read 'DANGER- I WILL BITE'. She was so annoyed with him sometimes when he began to behave like a mindless pig-it was so childish. She ignored the facetious warning and gently pushed open his door entering his room without permission. Onyx eyes glared daggers at her as she tried to adjust her eyes to the overpowering obscurity.

"It's time for dinner" She informed him, trying to avoid his conspicuous glare. What satisfaction does anyone get being alone in a dark room such as this, simply staring when they could be happily having dinner with their family?

He removed his earphones from his ears and continued to look at her as if she was inhuman-probably an alien sprouting two heads.

"Hn"

With that famous solemn reply, she kindly turned around and exit the room before he actually 'bit' her.

It was not until approximately half an hour later that Sasuke was found marching down the long winding stairs leading to the rather large dining room furnished with priceless antiques and china and a sturdy 4 meters wide, 10 meters long thick mahogany table which shone to reflect the light of the large crystal chandelier which hung in the middle of the ceiling with four others surrounding it. He made his way to the table, successfully ignoring the stares aimed in his direction and sat at the far end of the table opposite of his father and mother and to the left of his brother, Itachi. While having a seat, he greeted his parents before picking up his cutlery and commenced eating.

"Sasuke, your birthday is coming up next Saturday-you'll finally be eighteen, are you not excited son?" Fugaku questioned, eyeing his son as he ate. He had decided that Sasuke was the more difficult of his two sons and sometimes, hating to admit it, he knew not of the words to say that would get a righteous sentence out of him.

"No, it's not a big deal" Sasuke replied in a monotonous voice.

"Well your mother and I have decided to celebrate your birthday this once" Fugaku paused as he observed his son's annoyed expression but continued anyway. "It's a series of events until the countdown of your birthday. We need you to invite your friends to stay at the house for the week"

"I don't have any friends to invite over and I don't want to celebrate my birthday" He was a bit miffed, dropping the fork on his plate. How dare his parents decide on this behind his back? They knew how much he hated revelries.

"That's not for you to decide" Fugaku cut in, his thunderous voice echoed authoritatively in the large room. "It only seems appropriate since we've never done anything this big for any of your birthdays as per your request each year that has always been granted. But this year we are not only celebrating your birthday but the twentieth anniversary of the company's existence and I'm sure you have friends"

Sasuke was pigheaded and had no intentions of relenting. "I really do not need to have an entire week of birthday celebrations Otosama and inviting over my so called 'friends' that you are so sure I possess is a bit much"

His father sighed. "When will you see that having a bit of fun in your life for once won't kill you Sasuke? And isn't it the norm for teenagers these days to enjoy such merriments with their fellow companions?"

"I don't want those friends at my house" He retorted trying to keep his voice as low as possible in order not to show his father any signs of disrespect. "You don't even know them"

Fugaku smiled knowingly. "Well I say it's about time I get to know just who my son speaks with every day. I already know most of Itachi's companions so it's time to acquaint myself with yours"

Why was his father pushing the matter this much? "Not only are you imposing this rather extravagant celebration on me, you want me to invite people you don't even know to my house for a week. What if they're a horde of delinquents?" Sasuke was peeved. The thought of having his 'friends' around for more than eight hours didn't necessarily thrill him. It wasn't that he hated them-well not all of them he thought.

"I'm sure they're not that bad Sasuke if they're your friends" His mother's soft sweet voice came as a breath of fresh air, cooling the tension. Mikoto did manage to have a soothing effect on her son and despite Sasuke's irritable and unjustified behaviour to the rest of the family sometimes, he could never resist being more sensitive to his mother.

"That's beside the point Okasan. I just don't want them here for an entire week" He grunted.

"You're father and I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally meet your associates Sasuke. You never talk about them"

"Exactly. That could mean they don't exist" Sasuke said matter-of-factly. "When since did you start allowing strangers to stay in our house anyway?"

"I'm sure they do exist darling, you just insinuated that fact. I don't understand why you'd be so against having your friends over for the week. It seems that the definition of that word has changed these days" She heaved a heavy sigh, a sad expression gracing her face then she turned to her husband. "Maybe this was a bad idea Fugaku, we should perhaps call off the event and simply celebrate the annual ball only"

Fugaku's face became rigid as he listened to his wife but he was just as tenacious as his son and he'd be damned if he allowed Sasuke to have his way this year again. He returned his attention to Sasuke, his voice firm as he spoke.

"There's no fighting it Sasuke, this event is going to happen. And as of for your friends, the only way they will not be here is if they or their parents disagree or if you don't tell them and I'm _sure _you will". Fugaku ensured that he stressed the 'sure' part sealing the deal that his decision was final.

Sasuke glowered at his father reluctantly admitting that he was right-there really was no fighting it. He hated the helpless feeling that gnawed at his nerves presently.

"I'll need you to retrieve their parent's contact numbers when you go to school tomorrow and Sasuke" Fugaku paused before he continued, his dark orbs staring directly at his son. "Don't you dare disobey me"

Sasuke sighed in defeat rubbing his aching temples "Fine I'll invite them, but for your sake only" He then excused himself from the table and went straight to his room without giving his parents or his brother (who stayed quiet throughout the entire ordeal) a second glance.

* * *

><p>The next morning Sasuke woke up with a full mind. He was still angry with his parents for deciding the faith of his birth week and was even more irritated with his father for suggesting he invite his friends to his house for the week. His house, better yet his room was his haven from the rest of the world. He sat up in his bed still covered by his black silken sheets and thick blue blanket. He wasn't in the mood to go to school today but it was Monday and he didn't like to see a faulty record so he got out of bed and went inside his master bathroom to have a hot bath. Dressing himself, he quickly went downstairs and into the kitchen where breakfast was being prepared.<p>

Sasuke sat at the counter instead of the dining table, roaming through his blackberry as he waited for breakfast and suddenly found his eyes straying and landing on a certain someone.

Her name was Sudeki (he had heard it once or twice before) and she was 17 years old. Apparently her mother had been working at his house for a very long time and she helped out sometimes. He stared at her weirdly as she spilled everything she touched and silently wondered what time she was going to reach school if she spent the entire morning ruining his kitchen.

Sudeki felt completely self-conscious when she had turned around from her work and caught Sasuke's eyes on her; she had quickly returned to what she was doing but started to behave completely jittery. She was always nervous when she was around him, fully knowing that he didn't notice her (or so she thought-they went to the same school for God's sake!). Now that he was staring at her, she felt completely insecure. He was actually looking at her! She instantaneously started to turn over everything she touched and take up stuff she didn't even need.

"Are you alright?" He asked looking up from his phone. His dark stare obviously easily fazed her as did most girls.

"Yes, I am ju-ust…." Her words trailed off to a sudden halt and she couldn't complete her sentence.

He continued to stare at her frail figure when he remembered that he had to leave for school. He didn't bother to wait for breakfast, so he had cereal instead and afterwards left for school.

Sasuke drove up into the parking lot sporting his black Mercedes Benz and playing 'thanks for the memories' very loudly. The spinning rims on the wheels glistened at the morning sun and the students that walked past adored the car and some the driver. His fan girls stood at their usual place-in his parking space because he was sure to notice them there. He pulled up into the said spot, watching the girls as they flocked his car and screamed his name.

"Sasuke I love you!"

"Sasuke be my boyfriend!"

He had gotten so used to this routine that he only killed the engine that silenced the music with itself and then left his car with them following behind him still screaming his name. When he reached the halls he saw Naruto coming to meet him.

"Hey teme what's up?" This morning Naruto seemed a bit more excited than usual-for what reason? He obviously could care less.

"Hey dobe"

The conversation lacked words and substance but it was the usual early morning dialogue between the two as they walked to their lockers. Neji and Shikamaru graced the hallways after and met up with them.

"Hey" They both echoed, Shikamaru looking completely lazy and Neji's face almost as firm as Sasuke's. Naruto started to brag about his weekend and Sasuke and the others ignored him because no-one else found a ramen festival as interesting as he did.

The girls: Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Hinata, almost as if on impulse, entered the hallways, strutting daintily down the shiny corridors all talking to each other. As they came upon the boys, they all split up immediately, each drifting towards their respective significant other; Ino going to Shikamaru, Hinata to Naruto who was still talking incessantly and Tenten to Neji leaving Sakura alone. She was usually left alone because she and Sasuke weren't the best of friends. She couldn't stand his ego and he thought she was annoying. Sasuke leaned on his locker as she on hers and they watched the three couples get on with their morning. Sasuke decided that it was perfect timing to fill them in on his news.

Clearing his throat to get their attention, he began. Suddenly, he was very aware of himself.

"As much as I hate what I'm about to say, I might as well get it over with" He indeed got their attention. "My birthday is next week Saturday, during spring break" He paused here berating himself for having to mention the event. "My parents invited you all to my house for the week to celebrate a series of events leading up to my birthday. I'll need all your parent's contact numbers so my father can get their permission and your addresses also"

Everyone was amazed because those were the longest sentences that had ever escaped Sasuke's lips-Armageddon must be near!

"Teme that's great! And I was wondering what I'd be doing for spring break!" The blonde seemed overly enthusiastic-typical Naruto.

"So we'd actually get to stay in the Uchiha mansion and meet your father? That's great!" Ino appeared to be thrilled by the idea, especially if she was going to personally meet one of Tokyo's most powerful men. She was anxious and nervous all at once. "It's really weird that your parents would invite us to your house for an entire week though. They don't even know us"

Inwardly Sasuke agreed with Ino but didn't voice his opinion. Before he had the opportunity to say anything if he wanted to, Naruto started to speak.

"Well, it's great that the teme's parents would invite us to spend a week at his house without knowing us" He flung an arm around his friend's shoulder loosely. "Isn't that right Sasuke?"

Sasuke gave Naruto a dangerous glare. "Take your hands off of me" He shook his friends arm off him, annoyed. He was obviously not pleased with the amount of attention he was getting although he should have expected it. "It's not like it was my idea, to say the very least, I hate it so don't get too excited-your energy is only being wasted" He was clearly exasperated. Sasuke was incomprehensible to his friends but they overtime, had learnt to tolerate him, everyone except Sakura.

"Well I'm not coming" Her voice came as a growl more than a statement as she grabbed a book from her locker and slammed it shut. "What's the sense of being in someone's company when you're not wanted there-total waste of time" Her accusing glare was aimed at Sasuke. "Anyways" She continued, "I'm off to class, catch you guys later". In a moment, only her scent lingered in the hallway.

"What's up with her?" Naruto questioned.

"Who cares" Sasuke was aggravated, especially with the pink-haired female that always seemed to make his life a bit more complicated than needed. He too spun on his heels and disappeared in the cluster of students heading to their class.

"Well that went well" Ino began sighing.

"Well how else did you expect Sakura to react? Gloat over Sasuke about how much she'll enjoy coming to his house? She's over him. Remember?" Tenten tossed a book into her locker before shutting it and spinning around to face Ino.

"I suppose you're right but we'll have to talk to her about her recent hate for him. Did you notice that since lately she gets angry about anything that has to do with Sasuke? And they fight a lot too"

"Yes but we'll have to talk about everything later. Right now we can't be late for Kakashi-sensei's class" Tenten reminded.

"Like that prick is ever early!" Naruto exclaimed throwing an arm around Hinata as everyone headed off.

That earned a laugh from the group.

* * *

><p>Sasuke couldn't stomach the fan girls that surrounded him as he sat at his desk. He felt so enclosed and he needed his space, but the flattered girls couldn't resist his god-like features. He sometimes felt so exposed mixed with a bit of nausea when he heard them talking about his looks. Each year it seemed like their numbers increased and this particular group was doing a great job at ticking him off. No matter how many death glares he gave them, they still wouldn't move. It was not until their teacher Kakashi-sensei arrived did they go to their seats. He was late as usual with the same lame excuse as every morning.<p>

"Good morning students, I was just on the road of life and …"

"Begin the class already!" Naruto shouted his palm balled into a fist.

"Ok Naruto, since you're so eager, why don't we begin this class by you explaining to us the meaning of the word 'PROVOCATIVE'". Kakashi's one exposed eye lazily scanned the idiot before he turned around and scribbled the letters on the board, his famous orange book stuck in his other hand.

"PRO-to the what?" Naruto exclaimed, scratching his head. The poor boy couldn't for the sake of his life prevent himself from looking like a complete buffoon. Classical.

Everyone in the class burst out in laughter except Sasuke and Sakura, the latter having only a half-smile plastered across her face. Sakura then raised a delicate hand to answer the question while everyone shut up.

"It means intended to make someone angry or annoyed" She explained while standing up eyeing Naruto in the process.

"Way you go dictionary" Sasuke muttered beneath his breath, looking down into his book.

"Right now you are provoking me to seriously slap you across the face-great example huh Sasuke-kun?" The attachment emphasized and her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You want to try it?" His dark orbs were directly glued to her now, his gaze wicked, daring.

"Why don't you just stop acting like a brave ass without actual guts and stick your face over here?" She was itching to have her fingers imprinted on that perfectly chiseled face of his.

A big 'ooohhh' then came from the class. Every fan girl started to give Sakura death glares; how dear she mess with 'their' Sasuke?

"Ok, Sasuke and Sakura enough of it, Sakura sit down and the both of you shut up unless you want to make an early morning trip to the principal's office" Kakashi said looking up from his orange book.

Sakura sat down but she couldn't stop sending death glares to Sasuke and he never failed to return them.

They went through the rest of the day ignoring each other until lunch time when it all got… difficult.

Sakura met up with the other three girls and walked with them to the cafeteria, collected their food and went to their table where the boys were already seated. Sakura made sure she took a seat far from Sasuke as she usually did because she was sure hell would break loose if they sat next to each other. Of course she could sit at another table, but why should she sacrifice her seat and her friends for an egotistical idiot?

While the others held light conversation, Naruto noticed that Sasuke and Sakura gave each other death glares that if it were possible, they would cut each other into halves. He thought he had gotten used to the recent tension between the two but he guessed he hadn't. A few months ago he had tried to squeeze some information out of Sasuke about what was happening between him and Sakura but his best friend was a hard nut to crack and his efforts turned out useless.

"What's up between the two of you today?" Naruto asked, his bright cerulean blue eyes glancing back and forth between the two but neither of them paid him any attention.

Ino glanced at Sakura who sat beside her, the girl's lunch untouched and her facial expression twisted into a deep frown. She sighed. "Sakura, what's wrong?"

"I hate Sasuke, that's what" Sakura glowered at her nemesis who sat directly opposite of her, pouting her lips and folding her arms to her chest. "He's such a pain"

Ino sighed as she remembered how all of Sakura's reactions to Sasuke over the past months pointed to that fact. "Tell me something I don't know"

Sasuke glared at Sakura, his arms folded to his chest loosely. "Am I supposed to care if you hate me or not? That's your problem, not mine"

"Your name was mentioned but I sure as hell wasn't addressing you" Sakura retorted.

"Whatever bitch" Sasuke diverted his attention from her, dismissing her right then and there.

"What did you just call me asshole? Maybe if you weren't so damn stuck up, you'd have a better life" Sakura's words burnt like acid and her eyes were icy.

"And what's that supposed to mean to me? Besides what the hell do you know about my life?" Sasuke shot back, returning his gaze to her. Damn her! She was becoming a much bigger pain by the day.

"Enough-it doesn't matter anyway-just avoid me!"

A soft empty laughter escaped Sasuke's lips. "Funny-I thought I've been doing just that for my entire life"

Shikamaru could feel the growing tension between the two as he eyed them. This wasn't good. Weren't they tired of fighting?

"Such a drag. Alright you two calm down already" Shikamaru cut in trying to generate a little peace. He hated extra work and if this didn't cease soon, they'd have tons of work to do. "Let's try to work this out, ok. What's the problem?"

"He's the problem!" Sakura shouted. "He believes that he can just go around and treat people anyway he pleases and they should just accept it. You guys can't possibly be considering going to his house, he doesn't even want you there"

"Sakura, calm down. I'm sure that Sasuke didn't mean what he said this morning. You know how he is" Naruto interrupted.

"You see Naruto, you accept Sasuke treating you like dirt. Some of us still have our dignity" She glanced at Sasuke as she said this.

He gave her a bored unsympathetic look as he leaned back into his chair, arms still folded to his chest loosely. "No-one asked you personally to come. Honestly I'd rather if you didn't"

"Don't worry, I'm not coming"

"Then stop saying that you won't and don't" Sasuke's tone was so cold and final that he earned reproachful stares from the rest of the girls around the table.

"Well since I'm sure I won't be needed, I'm not going to come" Sakura couldn't deny that she was a bit hurt by his words; actually they stung. She felt the little things called tears pricking at her eyes and she'd be damned if he saw her cry. She suddenly felt really insecure, as if the entire cafeteria had overheard their conversation and was staring at her. In one swift impulse, Sakura stormed out of the room. Hinata and Tenten both got up from their seats and ran after her while everyone else stared at their retracting backs.

"That was really cold teme, even for you" Naruto's usually cheery voice was serious. "I don't understand. It's not like you've been telling me anything. I know that you guys aren't the best of friends but when since did the relationship between you and Sakura become so bitter?"

Sasuke picked up his sub sandwich from his tray, removing the wrappers on it. "I don't want to talk about that now"

"You never want to talk about anything" Naruto countered. "And I think that treating a fellow friend of mine like crap is something to talk about"

Sasuke rubbed his temples as he leaned forward resting his elbows on the table. "I said I don't want to talk about that now, just drop it" His tone had become dangerously low, threatening.

Naruto knew that he wasn't going to get anything out of Sasuke when he was like this so he'd just have to drop the matter until his friend was calm again. "Fine, but we'll be talking about this again"

Neji who sat quietly at the table stared at the raven haired male and sighed. Sasuke was becoming more heartless as the days went by. Something needed to be done he thought.

_(Meanwhile)_

"Sakura wait up!" Hinata called at the pink-haired female that was moving so quickly, she and Tenten could hardly keep up.

"What do you want?" Sakura snapped at the humble female. She came to a halt and spun around to face her friends. A second hadn't past when she started to feel bad about it-she was becoming a monster. "I'm sorry Hinata, I didn't mean it like that"

"That's ok, no biggy. A-Are you ok hun?" Hinata's pearly eyes scanned Sakura's contorted tear-stained face.

"No I'm not ok but as soon as that creature from hell is eliminated off the surface of the earth I will be"

"When since did Sasuke become this much of a problem? I mean I know that you were over him a long time ago and all. But this, this fighting all the time is new" Tenten moved to prop herself on one of the lockers as she awaited an answer from her friend.

"I really don't want to talk about that right now. God, I can't believe you guys are actually going to his house for an entire week to celebrate the birth of satan's spawn" Sakura wiped at the last tears that had flown from her eyes while joining Tenten on the lockers.

Tenten gave her a sad look. "Yep we're all going-it sounds fun. We'd really appreciate if you came"

Sakura's brows furrowed. "What in 'I can't stand him' don't you understand? Why should I go when I can stay home or go somewhere else where I can avoid him and be happy?"

"That's true" Tenten agreed. "But it would be weird if you never came. You're our best friend Sakura, we'd feel empty without you there"

"I really don't want to go Tenten, besides you heard what he said. He'd rather if I didn't come. I don't want to make it seem like I'm interested in him anymore" Sakura's voice was nothing short of a whisper, her eyes downcast.

"If you don't come, it'll be like giving in to what he said and I'm sure that he's gotten the point that you have no interest in him by now. You could be the bigger person"

Where did Tenten get off on giving advice about being the bigger person? She was queen of fights when they were younger! And those were physical combats.

"Yeah Sakura, Tenten's right" Hinata added. "Don't let Sasuke co-control where and when you have fun, e-even if it's at his house"

Sakura sighed. "I really can't do this. I can't go"

Tenten pushed herself up from the locker and grabbed Sakura by both her shoulders, gently shaking her. "Listen to me Saku. You can do this. Show him that he doesn't faze you, that you can come into his house and have fun while he's there. You could even think of it as torturing him with your presence if that suits you better, I don't care. We can't go through this week if you're not there"

Sakura silently pondered Tenten's words. The torturing Sasuke with her presence part did seem inviting but this was going to be too much for her. One week was a really long time. "Gosh, it's an entire week Tenten and I-"

"Hun you won't be alone. You'll have us" Tenten cut in. "Besides I read about the Uchiha mansion a few times in magazines; it's a huge place. Lots of space to avoid Sasuke"

Sakura thought about it for a while before she spoke. "Let's say I decide to go-which doesn't mean I'm coming, I'm sure that Sasuke won't be too willing to accept my parent's contact information. He really does have the choice of dumping it if I gave it to him"

Hinata scoffed at her friend. "Will you stop being such a p-pessimist? Are you f-forgetting about me? My parents know the Uchihas personally; they're business associates. If Sasuke refuses to do the job, I'll do it f-for him"

Tenten looked at Sakura expectantly. "So what do you say? Up for the challenge of spending a week in your enemy's house?" She smiled cheekily as teasingly added "It'll be fuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnn"

Sakura hesitated to reply but she couldn't help but smile at the way how Tenten sounded inviting. "Okay"

Tenten grabbed the pink haired female's hands happily, grinning. "You'll come?"

Sakura reiterated her response, a bit annoyed.

"Yeah!" Both girls shouted embracing Sakura in a tight hug.

"Ok, so now can we please return to lunch? It's almost time for classes and I'm starved" Tenten ran her palm over her aching tummy.

A small laugh escaped Sakura's lips as she linked her arms with her friends and they headed back to the cafeteria.

Ino's head popped up when she saw the girls entering the cafeteria. "Thank God, you're back" She held Sakura's hand as she sat down and gave her a concerned stare.

Sakura smiled at her. "I'm ok Ino, really"

Sasuke frowned looking away-this was getting too dramatic for his taste. He was however surprised when he heard a hand slam down hard on the table in front of him and traced it back to Sakura's face.

"Here are my parent's contact numbers. I changed my mind, apparently I'll be coming to your little fete" Sakura shoved the paper with the numbers closer to him before removing her hand. She suddenly felt powerful, like she was in control.

Sasuke glowered at her. He was hoping that she wouldn't want to come. What kind of speech did Tenten and Hinata feed her that changed her mind? O well if she wanted to come he'd let her but he wasn't going to make her week easy. He'd show her exactly how things ran on his turf. Inwardly he smirked; this was going to be interesting. Outwardly however, he remained impassive.

"Whatever, just don't cross my path" Sasuke responded in an emotionless tone.

Sakura simply rolled her eyes. She was astonished that that was all he said though and was even more surprised when he picked up the piece of paper and stuffed it into his pocket.

Naruto wasn't clear on when or how they were going to reach Sasuke's house. It wasn't like the teme gave them clear instructions and date listings. "Hey Sasuke, how are we going to reach your house and when should we come? Aren't we gonna need an invite letter or something?"

"My dad will make those arrangements and I'll inform you by the end of this week". Of course he didn't care about any of it; he didn't even want them at his house but he did relish the idea of torturing the pink haired female if she really did come.

Sasuke got up from the table and walked to his next class, his fan girls behind him. He was doing a very poor job at ignoring them. Almost every girl in the school crazed over him. Not only because he was the epitome of masculinity but also because his father was the owner of The Uchiha Incorporation (TUI) which was one of the biggest companies in Japan-rich, hot and handsome all in one sweet package-who wouldn't want to indulge?

"What a jerk" Sakura muttered.

"Sakura, try to forget about him for a while will you?" Hinata told her while clearing up her tray.

"Fine" Sakura murmured before taking a wholesome bite out of her sandwich.

* * *

><p>The rest of the school day went perfectly fine as long as the two ignored each other. Sasuke was not interested in picking any more fights with Sakura today. He was the laid back type of guy who didn't really like conversation anyway; especially when it poked at his nerves. He hated it when people bothered him and right now all he wanted to do was go home and lock himself in his room and listen to music; how endearing he thought.<p>

At the end of school the entire group met up at Sasuke's parking space where the fan girls were. They were really irritating him now and he felt like running them over-morbid much? He leaned on his car, hands idly in his pockets and earphones in his ears, Kakashi style, staring at the sky- Saturnine. Staring-the only thing he seemed to do most times-a hobby perhaps.

Sakura leaned on a nearby tree staring at him-what was he thinking about anyway? He caught her stare and stared back at her tension building up between the two. She broke the stare and turned her head to look in the other direction where Naruto and the others engaged in a conversation. Those eyes of his seemed to see right through her; those dark orbs that seemed endless-she hated his gaze.

Sasuke never really saw any reason for his being there, so he went into his car, started the engine and music then without a goodbye sped off.

Sakura also never saw any purpose for her being there so she told them goodbye and walked off to take the bus. All the boys decided to leave after. Naruto had some ramen shopping to do (didn't he ever get tired?); Shikamaru claimed that he never got enough sleep last night and well Neji just wanted to leave.

"Hey guys, I'm a bit worried about Sasuke and Sakura. Ok, a lot worried" Ino confessed to the group as they walked towards Hinata's car.

"I seriously think they need to work it out too Ino, it's sad how they've been fighting a lot" Hinata said trying not to stutter. She had really improved in the way she talked.

"Well, I do hope everything works out between them next week, besides I personally don't think that Sakura hates Sasuke that much even though she's over him" Tenten added. _Then again, I could always be wrong_ she mused quietly to herself.

They all got into Hinata's sporty pink car and drove out of the parking lot; she'd drop them at their respective houses.

* * *

><p><strong>Review, review, please review!-<strong>Puppy dog eyes- I really hope you liked it. I promise I'll update every time I can and don't worry, I'll be posting the upcoming chapters soon!


	2. First day, First encounter

So here's the next chapter-see, I didn't take long. Read and enjoy-hope you like it!

This chapter has also been edited. Read and review please.

First Day, First Encounter

One week later.

It was a Sunday, the supposed day that every one of his so-called 'friends' would arrive at Sasuke's house for his week of successive events.

As the sun hid its face behind the evening's sky, Sakura's limo was the first to reach its destination-Sasuke's house. She peered through the window as the elaborately stretched car pulled up in front of a wide automatic gate. A security came out. She was amazed at how big Sasuke's house was, that it even had a front and back security gate-in fact it wasn't a house-it was a mansion. It was so stunning that she couldn't take her eyes off it. Yes, now she would be entering the Uchiha mansion, she gulped.

When the limo drove inside and came to a stop at the front of the house, the chauffeur exited the vehicle then came around her side to open her door. A gloved hand held her delicate one and pulled her up from the car then reached further inside for her luggage.

"Thank you" She said smiling sweetly to the man dressed in all black as he placed her luggage on the steps.

"You're welcome" He replied solemnly.

As she followed his lead up the steps, her ankle length chiffon floral dress wisped across each step. The man placed her luggage beside her then returned to the limo, and then in another moment, he drove off.

Sakura felt awkward that she was the first to arrive at Sasuke's house-ahem-mansion. It made it seem like she was actually excited to be at the damned place-the extremely beautiful damned place. She stood on the steps, until a butler came outside to pick up her luggage. Obviously he was notified by the security guard that she had arrived. She followed him inside the mansion where he stood inside the rather spacious main hall. She paused to examine the exquisite designs of the house. The wide stairs were polished to a shine and had a red carpet running through the middle of each step and paintings adorned the walls. The roof had the red and white Uchiwa fan engraved in the middle and there were several crystal chandeliers hanging from it. Everything else was typically what she expected of a mansion, extremely beautiful moldings and carvings on the column walls, heavy mahogany double doors, French glass windows, the works-the house declared power and prestige.

"This is beautiful" Sakura whispered trying to take in the pleasant feeling the house gave her. Too bad the peace and serenity was broken by Naruto's loud mouth. He came running full speed towards her, a wide grin plastered across his face.

"Sakura-Chan, you came!" He shouted as he threw his arms around her engulfing her in a tight hug. Didn't she just see him Friday? He was hugging her as if he never saw her in ages.

"Yes Naruto-I came" She squirmed in his arms as she pried his arms from her anatomy.

He was followed by Tenten, Ino, Hinata, Shikamaru and Neji. They all stood in the large hall obviously also amazed by the house (except Hinata and Neji who weren't really new to living rich) waiting for someone to take them to their rooms. The house felt so foreign-much like a hotel rather than a house.

Finally after waiting for about five minutes, five butlers came to deliver the guests to their respective rooms. The men, who were all dressed in black and white tuxedos with silken bow ties, retrieved their luggage and headed up the stairs. Naruto and Shikamaru insisted that their butler take the elevator because those steps were way too hard to climb-lazy pricks.

The others followed the remaining four butlers, chatting as they ascended the flight of steps. Sakura couldn't help but admire the exquisite paintings she saw lining the walls of the stairs. In another five minutes they reached the second floor. The butlers showed each of them to their room; Ten-Ten's room was located next to Neji's, Ino's just opposite of Shikamaru's and Hinatas's next to Naruto's. She couldn't help but blush when she found out this was so.

Sakura was now the only one that remained-too caught up with adoring the paintings she hadn't noticed that she was still walking. Her journey took her to the third floor where she was shown to a room right next to one with a dark-blue door sporting a vulgar sign. She had a bad feeling it was a certain someone's room who she would rather go to hell than stay beside. She just had to ask, her mind would not let her live it out.

"Um, excuse me?" She cleared her throat successfully getting the butlers' attentions. "Whose room is that?" She pointed to the mysterious door on her right.

"Oh, that's master Sasuke's room. If you'll excuse us we have to attend to another situation downstairs. We hope you will be comfortable and enjoy your stay". The two butlers then made their way into the elevator on the left then disappeared.

Sakura could feel a vein pop on her forehead –COMFORTABLE? She was far from comfortable. She was already a bit bothered that she was the only visitor staying on the third floor when she had noticed. Now she had to live in a room side by side with the hothead? How great.

She looked at Sasuke's door with disgust then went inside the room that was supposedly hers for the week, pulling her luggage in behind her. She threw them aside, and then plopped down extremely heavily on the large bed. Instantaneously, she calmed down to observe the apartment.

It was almost as if the room was designed for her. The curtains were of a tender pink color patterned alternately with blossoms and lined with feathery drapes. The walls were painted a creamy vanilla with pink stripes lining it vertically. The furniture was amazing and her ceiling had an extremely large crystal chandelier in it. She'd never been in a room this lavish before. Heck, her parent's room back at home wasn't even this big. Well at least they gave her a suitable living space to make up for being placed next to Sasuke-might as well enjoy it.

"What to do now?" She sighed as she paced up and down the room.

She was new to the place so obviously she didn't want to go wandering about and probably get lost (it was way possible). Plus she didn't want to meet up on Sasuke's parents, at least not yet. Lost in deep thought, she was drawn out of her reverie when she heard a knock on the door. She went to see who it was.

"Good evening-Haruno Sakura is it?" A petite and sweet girl was outside her door dressed in maid's clothing. Sakura quickly recognized her as Sudeki from school but since they weren't friends or anything, she gave the girl a simple greeting.

"Good evening and yes, I am Haruno Sakura, but you can just call me Sakura"

"Oh yes" She paused, "Sakura, dinner will be at 7, you are required to be on time since you will be meeting Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san"

"Ahh-thank you for notifying me". Sakura seemed as if she was going to say something else, but it never came. There was a slight awkward silence between the two for a minute before Sudeki took the opportunity to break it.

"I need to return to my job down….." Her voice trailed off as she pointed to the elevator.

"Sure, yeah" Sakura replied smoothly, her emerald eyes observing the girl closely.

Suspecting that Sakura had noticed that she did go to their school and was a bit curious as to why she worked there, Sudeki quickly spun on her heels and headed to the elevator before any questions were asked.

"Well that was weird" Sakura whispered to herself as she closed the door and returned to her pacing. The evening was still a bit young, and she had approximately half an hour left until dinner. She pondered on all the things she could do until then but settled for unpacking one of her suitcases to make the room feel more like hers.

* * *

><p>When Sakura arrived downstairs for dinner thirty minutes later, everyone was already there standing in the living hall greeting Sasuke's parents. She could hear her heart pelting her chest and berated herself for being nervous about something so trivial. Sasuke was the one introducing his parents to her friends and inwardly she slapped herself for coming because her host wasn't her favorite person in the world and she had no idea of what he would say to announce her to his parents.<p>

She stood by the rest of the group watching as hands were shaken and names said as she awaited her turn.

"And this is Haruno Sakura" She heard Sasuke say, his voice completely monotonous and bland when he said her name. Her name was so loud in her ears, it almost sounded unfamiliar.

"Sakura, these are my parents" Sasuke's eyes didn't hold the hate for her as they usually did. Typical of him to show respect in front of his parents.

She reached out a hand to shake the outstretched hands-not too firm, not too loose. "Fugaku-san, Mikoto-san it's a pleasure to finally meet you". A courteous bow followed.

"Ahh-impressive Sasuke. It seems that you have well-mannered friends. They are not delinquents after all" Fugaku said, a twinkle in his eyes as he stared at Sakura.

"I couldn't agree more" Mikoto added, her voice had a tinge of familiarity to it-very motherly. Sakura smiled as she spoke deciding that she liked the older woman.

"Well my wife and I are pleased to meet you all. It's always good to know who your children come in contact with each day", Fugaku's voice was strong, authoritative-his air suited him well. "However, Mikoto and I have other business to tend to tonight so sadly we won't be able to join you for dinner. We will however return tomorrow and please, enjoy your stay" His hand pointed to the dining room, and then he motioned to Sasuke who went to him.

Everyone else filed into the dining room, taking a seat as the evening's meal was brought out and served. Onigiri, Yaki Mochi, Oden, yakisoba, and a few other dishes graced the large dining room table, filling the air with sweet smells.

"Oooooooooo-this is soooo great!" Naruto half squealed half shouted rubbing his palms together and overly excited to delve into the scrumptious food.

"Calm down Naruto" Sakura interrupted. "First we have to thank these people for preparing such a wonderful meal"

Naruto mentally slapped himself. Just like Sakura to put gratitude before her belly.

"On behalf of me and my friends, we would like to extend our appreciation for fixing us such a beautiful meal" Sakura said, a saccharine smile gracing her lips.

"You are indeed our guests" A short, stout butler replied "We hope you'll enjoy it"

Sakura shook her head in response then everyone commenced eating as Sasuke joined them at the table. His brother Itachi had apparently gone out with some friends and so he too would be missing from dinner which meant that Sasuke was the only one eating with his guests tonight. He was slightly bothered that his parents would not be joining them for dinner but managed to pull off an impassive appearance throughout the whole meal-the least thing he wanted was one of them asking if he was okay.

The entire dinner went by quickly as far as Sakura was concerned. They had had several delicious choices for dessert, talked a bit, and then everyone dispersed all about the house, whether to their rooms or elsewhere.

She had chosen against wandering the house just to avoid meeting up on Sasuke. He had excused himself early from the table, half-heartedly thanking everyone for coming and insisted that they did whatever they wanted to do in order to get used to the house since it was their first night. Everyone was kind-of-sort-of used to his crestfallen attitude and so no one objected to his leave.

Now, Sakura sat on her bed, feeling a bit disconcerted as to what to do for the remainder of the night. Of course she wasn't alone in this place and she could bet that there were tons of things she could do but the fact that they were in Sasuke's house only disheartened her from leaving her room. Man, if she was really intent on getting through this week, she had to build up better resistance to his 'nerve-racking' behaviour for lack of a better word. She ceased all the thoughts twirling in her head and settled for taking a bath for now.

"Yeah-that's just what I need. Then maybe I can stop thinking so much" She sighed to herself, running a small hand through her tangled hair.

There were two doors in her room which could be the bathroom. One was connected to Sasuke's bathroom which was an un-necessary door due to a flaw that was made when the building was erected (and was to be corrected a year ago). The other door lead to Sakura's rightful bathroom-too bad she was ignorant to this information.

She reached into her unpacked suitcase and grabbed a towel, a bottle of shampoo and body wash then made her way into the bathroom belonging to Sasuke. It was quite a contrast to her room really. The walls were tiled in a navy-blue with golden dragons spouting fire emblazoned on alternate tiles. The tiles in the center of the bathroom came together to create a large golden dragon spitting flames. The bathroom had a very big Jacuzzi to the left and the entire room was lit by several crystal chandeliers and candles which made the golden dragons glisten- it was beautiful in an odd way.

"Wow, and I thought this place couldn't get any more gorgeous!"

She reached for the tap to the bath, turned it on and poured some body wash into it then left the room to change in her towel.

After she left the bathroom, Sasuke entered it. He saw the tap running and thought one of the maids had prepared his bath for him-had they not gotten it in their heads that he was old enough to do everything for himself now? He then left the bathroom and went for his towel-luckily for them; he did feel like relaxing in a nice warm bath.

When he left, Sakura entered the bathroom once again. She slipped off her towel, threw it beside the bath and jumped into the warm water which was now foaming.

The bath was extremely spacious she noticed as she dipped her feet in, then the rest of her body. She could feel the warm water ease her muscles and release the tension built up in her earlier that day. She was just about to lay back and relax, when she heard someone come through the other door she thought was a closet. She had a second for a quick glance at the person and spotted Sasuke coming in the bathroom, wrapped only in a towel below the waist. She had no time to think so she made a quick duck below the water before he could see her. A thought then slapped her in the face. Of course this could have never been her bathroom although she knew nothing about the house. It was Sasuke's. How could she have been so oblivious to the obvious? Why couldn't she have used her brain before she had to end up in this awkward position right now?

He was about to dip one of his legs into the tub when he paused and turned around as if he had left something. He spun on his heels and returned to his room.

Great! This was her chance to escape before he returned! Gasping for breath, she emerged from the water and quickly grabbed her towel from the floor. Her heart beat like drums in her ears as she wrapped the cloth around her body and was about to grab the handle to her room door. A gruff voice stopped her in her tracks.

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

Busted.

She felt nauseous, light-headed, like a nervous wreck all in one. Her head slowly spun around to his direction, hesitating with each passing second as her apple green orbs met his dark ones. She inwardly rebuked herself for being so stupid especially at a time like this. She was speechless, sheepishness embellishing her features. Her mouth was opened, but no words came.

"Did I stutter?" Sasuke paused as if he was awaiting an answer to his rhetorical question "What are you doing in here?" He repeated slower than before.

She may have been an idiot for making such an evident mistake but despite the cause she wasn't going to have him degrade her.

"Apparently, I mistook this room for my bathroom. It's not my fault your house was constructed with defects" Her shaky voice became stronger with each word.

He glared at her, his unwavering gaze boring through her as she shifted on her feet. He seemed to be enjoying this-how she looked so vulnerable right now. He was about to comment on her previous statement when she decided to speak again.

"Don't worry, I was just leaving. I'm really not in the mood to deal with you tonight-my head hurts"

She used one hand to massage her temples and the other to open the door. Without looking back at him, she stepped into the adjoining room and closed the door behind her. She could hear him muttering a string of soft curses to himself but ignored him. She had a severe migraine to worry about right now. _Thanks a lot Sasuke._

She strolled to another door that she saw in the room, assuming it to be her rightful bathroom. On opening the door, she was grateful to find out that she was right. It would have been a disaster if she had found something else. After having a bath, she prepared for bed, making a mental note to herself that she must remember her bathroom-which she was sure she would. It would kill her to have a repeat of that catastrophic encounter.

"O well, at least I'm still alive" A heavy sigh escaped her lips. "I'll just need to avoid him for the rest of the week and I'll be ok".

She flipped from her side to lie fully on her back, staring in the highly decorated ceiling, lost in her thoughts before she closed her eyes, allowing sleep to engulf her completely. She would dream of happier thoughts-hopefully.

* * *

><p>So I actually rewrote this chapter and this version of it is final so don't worry about me writing it again. I'd really appreciate if you guys reviewed it. Thanks to Toyoko again for making me edit the first three chapters for them to make sense.<p> 


	3. Reasons I don't Like You

Reasons I Don't Like You

The next morning, Sakura woke up with an awful headache. She yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes lazily as she remembered what had happened between her and Sasuke the previous night. The reminder only served to make her head throb even worse. She moaned loudly as she jumped out of bed and headed for the bathroom.

After spending nearly half an hour brushing her teeth and exfoliating her face, her headache started to dissipate so she re-entered her room and switched on some rock music. She turned up the volume so loudly that Sasuke's ears in the other room started booming. He was getting really pissed now. Yesterday she had nearly had a bath in _**HIS **_bathroom and today she is disturbing _**HIS**_peaceful environment.

**HELL NO**! This bitch is going down!

He angrily jumped out of his bed, grabbed his boxers, flung them on and marched with giant footsteps to Sakura's door.

Sakura was startled when she heard thunderous booming on her door. She stopped dancing and immediately went to see who her rude visitor was. She was shocked to see a half-naked Sasuke standing outside.

"Why am I not surprised?" She said with one neatly arched eyebrow raised and arms folded. If she was a little fazed by his muscular toned body and incredible biceps, she had the decency not to show it.

He marched in angrily and started shouting.

"Why the hell do you have so much noise over here? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"5 o'clock, so?"

"So turn it down you jackass, unlike you, some people want to sleep".

"Who the hell are you calling a jackass? Anyways you're invading my privacy so get out!"

Sasuke looked at her with vicious eyes that could cut her in half. He angrily marched back to his room and slammed the door shut. Just as he jumped back into his bed and was ready to fall asleep again, he heard the music again and this time it was louder, damn her, it was a lot louder!

Now she's done it-great it was only the second day and she's already managed to get his blood boiling. He got up, flung his door open, marched to her door, flung it open, went straight towards the music player and flung it straight through the window before Sakura could stop him.

"Are you out of your freaking mind? What the hell did you do that for?" she yelled running towards the window.

She looked down on the tiny pieces of what used to be her music player scattered on the ground below. Now she was mad. She ran straight past him, entered his room (which is strictly out of bounds), grabbed his stereo and threw it through his window. It was an official declaration of **WAR**!

"So, that's how it's gonna be uh?" Sasuke smirked when he stepped out into the hall and saw what she was doing.

He went back into her room and grabbed the next item closest to him that belonged to her-her suitcase, and hurled it through the window.

Sakura returned from Sasuke's room just in time to see him toss her suitcase through her window. Seeing this she went on a wild rampage grabbing stuff from his room at random and flung them through his window. She was about to grab another personal item when she felt two strong arms grip her by the wrists and pulling her towards his window.

Sasuke wouldn't be that delusional to throw her through! She started screaming and kicking him in the abdomen as he pushed her through the window and tightly held on to her wrists. Alas! It was to no avail.

"You're not crazy enough to do this! If I fall, it's technically murder! Let me go you psychopath!"

"O really now? Try me"

"You'll never be able to live with yourself ever!"

"I think myself should beg to differ and what is that…? You want me to let go of you?" He threatened slightly releasing his grip on her hands.

Sakura started screaming much louder effectively waking the entire household. Two of the butlers decked in silly pajamas along with a sleepy Naruto and Neji came rushing to the door to see what all the raucous was about. They were shocked to see a screaming and bewildered Sakura hanging through the window and an angry Sasuke barely holding on to her.

"What's going on in here?" Naruto yelled all signs of sleepiness gone from his body.

"What does it look like is going on in here? Hurry up and save me before this mentally ill freak kills me!" Screamed a mortified Sakura.

"Sasuke are you crazy? Pull her up" Neji sternly requested.

"I told her not to cross my path or something bad would happen"

"I did nothing to him! I was just listening to my music and crazy person here did this to me!"

"We'll discuss everything once you pull her up from that window. Sasuke pull her up now!" Yelled Neji as both he and Naruto sped to the window to help.

"You two do it" Said Sasuke letting go of Sakura's hands as Neji and Naruto hurriedly grabbed her and hauled her up.

"You're ok Sakura, you can let go of us now" Naruto whined pulling Sakura's tightly gripped hands from his shirt. She was without words as she heavily panted for breath and one feeble palm lay on her chest.

"Thank you-gasps-my knights-gasps-in shining armour for saving me from that creep!"

Sasuke seemed unaffected by her insults. Instead he sat down in his black leather sofa looking comfortable and impassive as if nothing had just happened.

"Ok now… what just happened cause I'm still lost" Naruto inquired, still shocked by the previous events.

"It doesn't matter what happened, I want her out of my room and as far from me as possible"

Shikamaru and the others plus a few house maids came storming into the room, the former hissing curses about all the noise early in the morning and the value of sleep.

"What's going on? We heard some crashes outside and Sakura screaming. Is everything ok?" Ino questioned looking worried as ever.

"You wanna know what happened? Mr. **EVIL** here tried to throw me through the window!" She screamed, face crimson red with anger.

"Oh my God! Sasuke are you crazy? What if she actually fell through and-"

"How evil do you think I am? I wasn't actually going to throw her through" He cut in rudely.

"I think the fact that you just tried to throw me through a window speaks for itself!" Sakura commented.

"I do believe that I wasn't directing that at you" Gosh he was tired of all this incessant ramble and he really needed to get some sleep "All I want is everyone out of my room, now!"

Sakura was the first person to leave and she didn't go quietly either. As insults rained from her mouth she marched into her 'so-called' room and flung the door shut. Everyone else strolled out one by one and once they were all out, automatically Sasuke's door flung shut too. Great, just what everyone needed-an entire week and a pair of angry people with no sleep on the side.

"Ok whose idea was it to put those two's rooms together cause it's the dumbest idea ever created" Tenten sighed, worry evident in her features.

"I don't know but I don't like the growing tension sparking between them" Neji commented as he eyed the doors. "Come on; let's go before things turn ugly again. We may have to work on a plan to get this problem sorted out"

"Right" Everyone agreed before returning to their rooms.

* * *

><p>"I must be losing my mind or something" Sakura was totally clueless about what made her come to this thing in the first place. O yes, it was Hinata's and Tenten's idea. "But I've come to my senses now. I am so not staying here!"<p>

She grabbed her other suitcase flinging whatever clothing that could hold in its small compartments into it as she snatched her cell phone from the bedside table and dialed her home number.

Rrrrrrrring-no answer.

She tried again but only got voice mail again. Her parents must be out so she tried her mom's cell.

"Hello" Thank God!

"Hey mom it's me!"

"O, hi honey! I was wondering when you would call. How are you enjoying yourself? Sasuke's a hot one" Her mom teased.

"Mom that's weird and I hate it here. Turns out your 'hot' guy's getting on top of my last nerves. I'm coming home"

"O sorry honey, you're dad and I decided to go on a trip to the Bahamas for spring break since you weren't going to be home for the week. You're going to have to stay at Sasuke's"

"You're kidding right? And when were you planning on telling me this?" Her brows creased her forehead. "Mom I can't stay here-I'm miserable! Can't I go home and stay by myself?"

"No"

"Why not? I'm seventeen, for God's sake mom I think I'm old enough and well capable of staying home by myself"

"No is no. You're dad and I won't be home until the weekend and the week has just started. Come on Sakura give it a chance, it can't be that bad and if I'm not mistaken you used to have a little crush on him"

"That was a long time ago and it doesn't matter anymore". Her mom was a pro at being difficult and she had to choose now of all times to be the toughest mother she could possibly be. Sakura knew her mom well and from the looks of things, she had better become best friends with Sasuke because she wasn't going anywhere. She swore Kiyoko-san could be a pain sometimes.

Her mother sighed "You do know I mean you well darling, it's for your own safety. At least when you're at his house I know you'll be ok"

"I know Okasan, I know" She'd given up with her begging. A million pleas were not going to help her case so might as well save her breath.

"Call me if you need me ok and I'll check up on you from time to time….. and Sakura?"

"Yes mom?"

"….Lighten up a bit hun and try to smile more. Only you can let yourself enjoy a situation that seems blurred by dark clouds. Love you hun, I'll call you later". Typical Kiyoko with her blooms of inspiration. At least it earned a smile from her only daughter.

"Ok, love you too mom-bye" She hung up the phone and fell back on the soft mattress with a sigh, her almost curvy frame pressed into its softness. Well that was pretty useless.

"O well, I guess it can't be helped" She wasn't exactly thrilled by the fact that she was stuck here for the rest of the week but she was willing to use her mother's words to help her get through it.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do-smile and not let anything bother me, even if I absolutely hate it here"

She pushed herself up from the bed, now sparkling with new found energy as she entered the bathroom to have a bath and emerged with her mid back length hair dripping wet. After blow drying it she caught it in a loose ponytail and pinned in a pair of bobby pins with two beautiful blue butterflies on them.

She reached into her suitcase for her favorite cerulean blue and white baby doll dress with elegant butterfly prints on it, threw it on and slid her feet into a pair of white sandals. Her eye then caught her mascara in one of the suitcase's compartments. She put on a little and dapped on a little shimmery lip gloss. She had never been a fan of makeup so whenever she did use it, it was only a bit. She took a quick glance at herself in the mirror and decided that she liked what she saw-a girl ready for a kick ass day and a depressing week.

* * *

><p>When she went down for breakfast, everyone was already there, seated and having a healthy conversation about some topic she had no idea about. She scanned the room for her nemesis but was surprised to find no sign of him. The darn bastard must still be in his room-not that she minded it. Noticing a frown appearing on her face, she immediately dismissed the idea of him from her mind and in light of her new dedication to smiling she quickly slapped on a small one and joined everyone at the table.<p>

"Good morning-how's everyone doing?" Her cheery voice wisped through the room like a fresh burst of cool air.

All conversations ceased as everyone's heads turned towards her direction. For a second she swore she could have heard a pin fall to the floor.

"What? ...Are you guys ok?" She looked at them as if they had each sprouted two heads while reaching across the table to grab a crispy slice of toasted bread then took a seat.

"I think we should be the ones asking you that question" Ino sounded petrified.

"I'm fine Ino. Why wouldn't I be?" She replied while buttering her toast then sunk her teeth into its crunchy goodness. "Hmm-this is really good!"

"You know, you may be my best friend, but you're really weird"

"I've been told"

Conversation then sprouted once again from the group, this time with Sakura joining in but it came to a halt again when Sasuke entered the room.

God was it always going to be like this Shikamaru wondered. If the two weren't fighting, they weren't speaking at all and as relieving as that should be, it only brought more intense awkward tension. This time it was so palpable, you could almost cut it. Sasuke seemed completely unaware of the bunch of eyes staring at him keenly as he took a seat and indulged into his breakfast.

"Ok then that's it! What's going on with Sasuke and Sakura this morning?" The loud-mouthed blond shouted completely distorting the thick silence that once existed in the room.

"Shut up you idiot, do you want them to go at it again?" Shikamaru was obviously tired of the usual fuss between the two as he slapped Naruto across the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?

To Shikamaru's surprise the two paid no attention to each other as both seemed too occupied with filling their stomachs with the delicious meal.

"So Sasuke…..what's the plan for today?" Ino requested recognizing the weird atmosphere and attempting to get rid of it.

Sasuke slowly looked up from his meal and directed his attention at her. To her surprise, he didn't give her his usual rude attitude but a rather dull reply. It wasn't much better but at least he wasn't trying to bite her head off.

"Actually, I printed out a schedule of the activities for this week" He waved a hand to one of the butlers who then started distributing the printed papers.

"If you look carefully, you'll notice some missing spaces. Those are the times when you can do whatever you want"

"Wow! There'll be a luncheon this afternoon and a pool party this evening!" Tenten screamed anxiously.

"Cool teme, not bad for a stuck up pain in the butt!" The blonde could not resist commenting on the exciting schedule he waved in his hand.

Sasuke gave him a glum look "Just make sure everyone is everywhere they are supposed to be at the right times"

Honestly, he could really care less if everyone came to all the events specified on the piece of paper. But, it was the least he could do for his parents just to say thank you. They had gone through so much to get the guest artists, caterers and every other important person who were going to make the week worth remembering. He might be a big ass sometimes, but he wasn't heartless especially not to his parents. He especially adored his mother. Mikoto's calm spirit and kind hearted ways had certainly touched her son and sometimes he believed that it is these qualities in his mother that gives him the strength to be nice to people, even if it's for a short period of time.

While everyone busied themselves with analyzing the schedule, he took the liberty of eyeing Sakura. What he did to her earlier may have been considered as 'over doing it' but oddly, she didn't seem to be as angry as she was at the time as a matter of fact she looked calm, really calm. He observed her features as she munched on a piece of toast while eyeing the paper she held in her hand. She didn't seem to take notice of him when he arrived in the room and she was doing an excellent job at ignoring his presence now. He noticed that something was different about her but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Sakura was not oblivious to Sasuke staring at her but she wasn't going to engage in a staring contest this morning; she was in too good a mood to spoil it. She didn't quite understand though why she felt a bit insecure; his glares never usually bothered her. She hesitated to look up from her paper at him but the temptation was too great. She lowered the paper to the table as her bright emerald eyes met his dark onyx ones. He didn't make any effort to break his stare and neither did she.

The intense staring did not go past Ino's recognition. Gosh the two of them were getting on her one last nerve.

"Hey Sakura, you want to go for a walk with Ten Ten, Hinata and me?"

"Um sure. why not?" She replied breezily quickly getting up from the chair and grabbing an apple.

The four girls left the room as they made their way out onto the wide patio decked with expensive looking tables and chairs. There were several steps that led to a series of gardens separated my neatly trimmed shrubs and several beautiful fountains. The gardens themselves contained exotic plants that were all in full bloom: saucer magnolias; white, pink and purple blooms, Japanese honeysuckle, and Japanese pieris with striking bell-shaped, pink and white clusters were among the few. There were a few garden chairs at alternate intervals in between the shrubs. Ino stopped at one of them and motioned to the others to accompany her. As Sakura sat, a pair of brightly colored robins caught her attention as they fluttered their wings playfully in the bird bath nearby.

"So Sakura…."

Her head spun around slowly as she recognized that Ino was addressing her.

"Yeah?"

"I'm a bit worried about the extremely bitter turn your relationship towards Sasuke has taken and so are Tenten and Hinata" The two girls nodded in unison at Ino's statement.

"Yeah Sakura, what's up with you guys?" Hinata asked boldly. I-I mean we already know that you're over him and now you practically hate him b-but you never really gave us a reason for any of it"

She sighed because she knew they would ask about it again at some point so might as well give them an answer "Sasuke and I just don't see eye to eye and I doubt that we ever will…he's an egocentric ass who takes pleasure in making others seem insignificant and well…I hate that about him" She bit her lips as she paused.

"I know that in the past I may have had a huge crush on him but I was naïve and way immature then and the qualities that I look for now in a guy did not matter but I guess that now I'm older and it finally hit me that he's really a disgusting person, it just pains me to know that I actually liked someone like that and I don't know…..I… I just get really angry when he's around" She took a deep breath and pursed her lips as she stared at her worried friends.

"Well then….." Ten Ten trailed off. "….I guess it can't be helped, but can you try not to make his presence bother you that much this week? Remember what I said about torturing him with your presence? It shouldn't be the other way around"

"Yeah Sakura, I mean, I know that it's his house and all, but I do believe that if you allow yourself, you can really enjoy what this week has in store for you" Ino sounded almost as philosophical as her mother. Actually she did indeed remind her of what her mother had said.

"Ok, here's what will happen. I'll try my best to be as nice to him as possible and avoid as many fights as I possibly can but no promises guys, I still really hate him"

"Oddly, we're ok with that, just don't turn every day into World War 2-"

"And wake everyone up every morning with frightening commotions" Ten Ten cut in.

That earned a smile from their best friend. "I'll try but as I said before, no promises"

* * *

><p>Sasuke looked up from his meal to find three pairs of eyes staring at him "Ok, I won't even ask" He continued munching on a piece of peppery sausage, grimacing at the spicy taste in his mouth.<p>

"What's up between you and Sakura because every day, you two seem to be getting worse" Neji was determined to get to the bottom of this because he could only tolerate so much.

"Not that again" He wiped his mouth with a napkin and threw it down on the table as he got up from his chair "First of all there is absolutely nothing between us and secondly, I'm not in the mood to talk about her now, she's already managed to spoil my morning. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go and ensure that everything is ok for the luncheon"

They watched him as he made his way into the kitchen.

"So…that went well" Shikamaru commented lazily "O well, the girls are already off so I guess we need to find something to do until the luncheon begins"

"I suppose" Neji was not contented with Sasuke's reply but what was he supposed to do, squeeze the information out of him? He knew Sasuke much better than that.

"OK! I'm ready to tour!" It was obviously Naruto as he jumped up from the table quickly. He managed to catch the attention of all the maids and butlers in the room as they looked at him oddly.

"I'll force the information out of Sasuke some other time" Naruto continued.

"Come on-let's go" Shikamaru said as he grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him out of the room, Neji following.

* * *

><p>The luncheon started at one and in everyone's eyes, it went well. Sasuke's parents expressed gratitude to everyone for attending and there were a lot of unfamiliar faces that Sakura didn't know. She supposed they were family friends and close relatives.<p>

A few people from the press were there also, maybe highlighting the twentieth anniversary of the company along with Sasuke's upcoming birthday. She barely saw Sasuke as he was mostly in the company of his family and she was kind of grateful for that plus she met his brother, Itachi. He was actually very similar in appearance to Sasuke-same dark eyes and hair with to die for god-like features but he seemed a bit nicer.

The rest of the day went well too and now she stood underneath one of the gazebos in the garden as the loud music coming from the pool party filled the atmosphere. There were a lot of people there, mostly from their school and others who she wasn't familiar with. Sakura had escaped to the garden for a few minutes because she didn't really like being around a lot of people. She hugged herself tightly as the cool night breeze wisped around her small frame and nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard someone else walking in the garden. She was relieved to see it was Itachi.

"What are you doing out here by yourself? Shouldn't you be at the party with the others?" His deep voice sounded genuinely concerned.

"Actually, I don't really fancy parties that much"

"Not much of a people person, huh?"

She smiled at this, the garden lights casting shadows on her face "I guess not"

He made his way into the gazebo and sat opposite to her. "Mind if I keep your company?"

"Not really" She was admiring the bright full moon that filled the cloudless sky. It was actually something she did every month when it came out. She had no idea why she had taken a liking to it.

Sasuke wondered how the hell these fan girls got into his party after he had given the butler a list of people who were allowed inside from his school. He watched as one of them clad in a really tight and revealing bikini make her way to the table he was sitting beside the pool. It was Karin.

"So Sasuke, what do you say about the two of us going somewhere a bit quieter to do something more personal?"

He nearly choked at her rather lusty demand. O he was going somewhere a bit quieter alright but it was certainly not with her or anyone else.

"No thanks Karin" Sasuke told her, brushing past her to head off in the opposite direction.

She watched in disappointment as he left her standing there.

He needed to get away from in here fast before any more of them decided to irritate him with their flirtatious language. Every time he was about to lash out at someone who got on his nerve, he remembered that he was going to be on his best behaviour this week for his parent's sake. He wasn't sure about how much more he could take but he would try.

It would be very rude to leave the party totally, so he made his way into the garden, the closest place to it that was quiet. He was a bit surprised to find that he wasn't the only one there. In one of the gazebos to the far right, he saw two people sitting. The garden lights were bright enough for him to identify them as his brother and…..Sakura? What were the two of them doing out here alone? Not that he really cared but just a bit curious. He sat in one of the small gazebos closest to him and ensured that his presence went un-noticed as he observed the two.

There didn't seem to be much conversation but Itachi was facing her. Suddenly, she got up and he followed as they both disappeared behind some shrubs.

The garden was filled with many plants and one could hardly recognize another if they made no sound at all while walking through it at night. They reappeared closer to his gazebo as they walked on the neatly lined rock pathway. He felt a bit abnormal when her head flashed in his direction as she and Itachi made their way past him.

Was he there the entire time? That's strange she wondered. Wait, I wonder if he thinks that his brother and I….her imagination trailed off. Sasuke wasn't dumb enough to think that and why should she care if he did.

Itachi came to a halt and so did Sakura. "Little brother why are you out here?"

"The last time I checked, I was free to be anywhere I wanted in my own home. I'll return to the party in a few" He turned his head to look in the opposite direction as the two continued their journey back to the festivities.

At the end of the night Sakura concluded that the week might not be that bad after all. After she had returned to the party she was greeted by Ino and the others who were in a frenzy claiming to be looking all over for her. Sasuke soon reentered and the entire place cheered him on although he didn't seem to like all the attention.

Now she was in her room, lying beneath the soft covers of the bed staring into the ceiling blankly when she heard a soft knock on her door. She lazily threw off the blanket and went to see who was at the door.

"I believe that this belongs to you"

O yes, she had totally forgotten about her suitcase that Sasuke had so rudely thrown out the window that morning. Itachi was kind enough to bring it up for her. He gave her a small smile which she returned as he handed it to her.

"Thank you. I totally forgot about it" She paused seeming to be deep in thought, then looked up at him questioningly.

"You know I might be way ahead of myself here and I'm probably wrong, but based on what I've seen so far you're nothing like Sasuke" She paused here and stared at him "You seem to be of a much calmer nature"

He smirked "My brother may be a little difficult to deal with at times but I do believe he has his reasons"

"A little hard to deal with you call it. I think that that's an understatement"

"Maybe, maybe not. The only way to find out is to really get to know him yourself"

A small dry laugh escaped her lips "I've known him for quite a while now, I think I've seen all there's to see. Anyways I'd love to chat but I really need to go to bed and Sasuke isn't really a topic of interest for me"

"I see" He seemed a bit distant as his head turned toward the direction of his brother's room.

"Thanks again" She stepped back from the door closing it after she hauled the slightly heavy suitcase through and pulled it to a halt in a corner.

Sasuke having reasons to be the way he is? The thought made her head throb a bit. She didn't care why he was the way he was, all she knew was that he was a pain and she hated him for it. It didn't matter anyway; she was really tired so she jumped back into her bed delving into its warmth. She yawned a bit as she closed her eyes drifting off into sleepy land as she looked forward to what the rest of the week had in store for her.

Behind the dark door of the adjacent room, a restless male stirred beneath his sheets wondering about the conversation he had overheard outside his door.

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><p>So you can tell me what you think about this chapter in those things they call reviews-lol. Yup, I'll happily accept them. Can't wait to write the next chap!<p> 


	4. Complications

So I promised I'd update really soon so here it is-I hope you like it.

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><p>Complications<p>

Sakura twisted and turned in her bed, disturbing images flooding her dreams-another nightmare. Her eyes were shut tightly, her face flushed as cold sweat washed her body. It seemed almost impossible to wake up, as if the nightmare literally held her captive in the unreal. A shrill scream was heard from her room and in another moment she was in reality, awake, her heart pelting her chest hard and her throat dry. She ran a hand through her disheveled hair, the other placed on her chest as she tried to calm down. Stretching slowly across the bed, she snatched her phone from the bed-side table to check the time-five in the morning. She sighed. Suddenly, a knock was heard on her door. She lazily threw the covers from her body, slipping into comfy fluffy slippers as she got up from her bed, and then made her way to the door. She expected to find a certain someone outside, ready to complain about the noise that came from her room but was surprised to find someone else-Itachi.

"Hey", his voice sounded slightly heavy from sleep.

"Hi", her voice was hushed, but she was wide awake.

"I heard a loud scream come from your room, not too long ago. Is everything ok?" His voice was low and his dark eyes held hers with concern. Just like him she thought.

"Yes, I'm sorry if I woke you". She thought about telling him that she had a nightmare but decided against it. She really wasn't in the mood to talk right now.

"It's ok, I'm an early riser anyway. I am about to go out for my early morning jog …would you like to join me? ...or if you have something better to do, that's alright"

She thought about it for a while. She didn't feel sleepy at all and she knew that if she went back to bed, she'd just end up staring blankly in the ceiling-lost in thought. Right now she didn't want to think; she'd been doing too much of that since lately.

"Sure, I don't mind-just let me get ready then you can tell me when you're ready to go out".

He nodded a response, and then headed down the hall to his room. Sakura closed the door behind her and sauntered lazily towards the bathroom to get changed and freshen up. She emerged five minutes later, totally energized and actually looking forward to the morning jog when she heard Itachi outside her door notifying her that he was ready to go. She immediately went outside to accompany him then they both left the house.

Sakura swore Itachi was some athletic maniac because this wasn't jogging. How the hell was she supposed to keep up with this guy if he was in supernova speed? Ok maybe she was exaggerating but she was beat and there was no denying it. She was partially out of breath, on the verge of falling flat on her face when Itachi turned around to recognize her difficulty; he came to a halt and 'jogged' back to her.

"Are you ok? ….you want to stop?" He continued to jog on the spot, his sentence clear almost as if it took no effort.

"Yes please!" She was out of breath, falling on the nearby grass instantly, gasping for air.

"I probably shouldn't have been going so fast, it never really occurred to me before that you weren't used to this" Itachi said, standing over her, hands on his hips.

Sakura looked up on him, shading her eyes from the uprising sun, "O really? You think?" She was probably out of her mind to be hanging out with him as much so soon; she just met the guy yesterday for crying out loud!

He smirked at her comment then took a seat on the grass beside her, stretching out his long legs, then laying on his back putting both his arms behind his head to elevate it.

There was a minute of silence; Sakura trying to catch her breath and Itachi staring up at the sky before he turned to her, one hand propping up his head.

"So how long have you known my brother?" The question came out of the blue that it startled Sakura. She managed to keep impassive albeit her heart was racing.

"Since like forever but to be more specific…..ever since we were eight. He might not have mentioned me-I was insignificant, still am actually", her reply lacked enthusiasm and her eyes stared in the opposite direction, "We aren't exactly what you'd call friends, he hates me and the feeling is mutual"

"I see", he removed his hand that was supporting his head and returned to his previous position.

"Why are you asking me this?" This time, she turned to look at him directly, her green eyes searching his face.

"No reason in particular", he lied, "It's just that your harsh relationship with him interests me. May I ask why you came here if you really can't get along with him that much?"

She didn't give him an instant reply, but averted her gaze to the patch of grass around them that she suddenly found interesting. She fingered the leaves of the bushes, twisting them in her fingers before popping off a few leaves.

"I'm sorry if I went too far-"

"Actually, I really don't know why I'm here", she cut in before Itachi could finish his sentence. "If you don't mind, I'd really like it if we changed the topic". Her voice was soft, distant.

"Of course, although I think we should start heading back, we don't want to be late for breakfast"

He quickly sprung up from the grass then reached out a hand to help her up. When he was about to carry on with his jogging, she quickly objected.

"Wait! Can we walk back instead?" her face was a bit twisted, as if the thought of jogging back literally pained her.

A small laugh escaped his lips, leaving a wide smile plastered across his face, "You really hate this don't you?"

"You have no idea"

Their walk back to the mansion was quite fulfilling-more than what Sakura had expected. They had talked about a whole variety of stuff ranging from most embarrassing moments, school, food, and basically just getting to know each other. He had made her laugh a few times which she found really odd because hey, he was related to Sasuke and Sasuke could do anything but make someone laugh. Their conversations were nowhere near intense, just plain and amiable and Sakura knew, just knew that she had made a new good friend. Now they were on the outskirts of the garden, making their way up the patio steps when the French-glassed double doors opened to reveal a raven haired male, one that Sakura didn't particularly like.

Sasuke stared at the two people standing on the wide patio as he pushed the door open, obviously puzzled. He regained his composure in about a second, returning to his expressionless self before completely placing his attention on Itachi.

"Where have you been?"

Itachi looked at him directly, eyebrows furrowed. "I was out on my usual morning jog. What's it to you?"

"Not to me, father said I should retrieve you but you couldn't be found. He needs you right away"

"Aa, I see" He then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, it was nice hanging out with you, I'll see you around"

"Yeah, sure" She smiled at him as he left.

There was an overwhelming silence as Sasuke just stood there, stationary and Sakura shifting on her heels. She was about to take her leave, deciding that the moment was too awkward for her when Sasuke suddenly blocked the entrance to the door, his arms folded across his chest.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was a little louder than usual but not too highly pitched to cause a disturbance in the household. They may have gotten away with their first fight when his parents weren't there, but now they might not.

"I think I'm the one that's supposed to be asking that question" He stared at her deadpan, his statement firm. "Why are you hanging out with my brother?" His eyebrows were raised, questioningly.

"Excuse me? Wait, what does my hanging out with your brother have to do with you?" Her expression was sour as she glared at him.

"You didn't answer my question" His voice remained strong, his gaze unwavering.

"That's because I don't have to." She counteracted heatedly looking at him directly, almost confused. "Wait … let me get this clear. You tell me to avoid you and I do just that and now you have a problem with it? You're pathetic"

He unfolded his arms as he stepped closer towards her. "Firstly, avoiding me doesn't mean invade my bathroom and-"

"That was a mistake and you know it!"

"It doesn't matter. Secondly, I really don't care what you do around here, but just avoid my family completely. I really don't want my brother to be mingling with someone like you" His face was stern and taut and his every word burned in her ears.

Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glowered at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?" Her voice was a bit shaky dictating her hurt that she was trying to hide, but failed miserably.

"Exactly what I said, stay away from my brother" he refolded his arms as he retracted to lean on the door. "Frankly I thought you would have gone home by now but it seems that you're more strong-willed than I assumed"

Tears welled up in her eyes threatening to fall. How could he be so heartless? How could she have liked someone so unfeeling? She hadn't noticed that a threatening tear had escaped her eye as it trailed down her now crimson red face-damn it! She couldn't possibly be crying in front of him, then when his painful words echoed in her ears, she gave up caring.

"Turns out that my assumptions about you were right. You're nothing but a tray of ice! You're so cold; you can't even make your pathetic little self happy despite how many friends you have!" Her feeble voice grew stronger with each passing second as words poured from her mouth. "You make yourself miserable and it's not enough so you plague other people's lives to make them just as unhappy as you are. You make me sick" When she stopped, she was almost breathless, her body infuriated.

He stared at her blankly as if to say "So?"

She couldn't stand to stare at him any longer; it was too painful and inundating. She angrily pushed past him, almost tripping over her feet as she made giant footsteps into the dining, then the living room and up the stairs. She hadn't even noticed Itachi descending those said stairs when she brushed past him, nearly knocking him over.

"I'm so sorry!" She felt her tears start to trickle down her face even more so she quickened her pace, not even bothering to look back at the male she nearly knocked over. She could hear him calling her name but she hurriedly went up the final flight of stairs before rushing into her room. As soon as she closed the door, her leaking tears burst freely and her face became storm. She rushed to her bed, and sunk her face in the pillows, all her anger and frustration breaking loose as she cried.

"Sakura!" Itachi was knocking on her door, simultaneously shouting her name. She ignored him; she didn't want to talk to anyone now.

The curious male gave up knocking at her door within minutes, and then headed to the elevator. He needed a quick way down because he had a good idea of who made Sakura upset and he needed a word with him. As soon as the elevator's doors opened, Itachi marched out in search of his brother and found him sitting in one of the chairs on the patio.

"What have you done?"

"I don't know what you're talking about" Sasuke replied bluntly his head turned in the opposite direction.

"You know very well what I'm talking about. What did you say to Sakura?

"Nothing"

"By the way she's acting; it can't be 'nothing'. You better start talking or else I'm gonna start assuming things you won't even like" Itachi's voice was firm and Sasuke hated the power his older brother had over him. Accepted it but hated it.

"Look" Sasuke sighed "It's none of your business so stay out of it"

"It's involves Sakura so technically it's my business whether you like it or not. She is my friend" Itachi made sure to put an emphasis on the friend part.

Sasuke's head flashed in Itachi's direction, a wry laughter escaping his lips "Friends, is that what you call it? You just met her and suddenly she becomes that important to you?"

"What does my just meeting her have to do with our friendship? However short it may be, it's still classified as one"

Sasuke scoffed-his brother was obviously out of it.

"Wait….. I get it" Itachi paused, as if he just discovered a mind-blowing idea. "You're jealous aren't you? Does it really hurt you that much that she's hanging out with me all the time? You can't stand the fact that you made her really hate you and now you have no idea how to salvage what you've done.

"That isn't it!"

"It is and you know it! Don't think for one moment that I have forgotten anything that you told me about her when we were younger! When you were eight and she was almost your friend"

Sasuke looked down at the designs on the patio table, tracing each flower with his fingertips. "I don't care about any of that anymore besides I never ever mentioned Sakura's name to you"

Itachi wasn't buying anything what he was saying and he knew it. His brother had to be delirious to believe that those absurd feelings remained. He may had found Sakura a bit interesting then although he never showed it but he was young and allowed such childish mishaps. He was absolutely sure that he never felt the same way now. Absolutely.

"Really now? If I recall correctly not every girl in Japan has pink hair and the name of fragrant blossoms. You're just so caught up with being Sasuke, cold and unsympathetic, that now you're really losing her because she's over you and you hate seeing her with me"

Itachi was sure of what he was saying, no doubt about that. He could clearly remember when they were much younger and Sasuke used to be more in touch with the world and his emotions. His brother had made reference to his liking of a certain pink haired female however somehow along the path of life his brother had strayed to a dark cave, locking himself in from the rest of the world and his feelings.

"Fine, I admit that I did have feelings for her when I was a child but you're out of your mind to believe that they still exist" He slowly pushed the chair he was sitting on backwards then got up from it. "I'm not prolonging this senseless conversation with you any longer. Besides…", He looked at his Rolex watch latched on to his left wrist,"….it's time for breakfast" Sasuke reentered the house through the double doors from which he came, leaving his brother standing alone on the patio.

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><p>Meanwhile as Sakura ran rivers unto her pillows, Ino and Tenten knocked down her door while yelling her name. They had turned up in front of her door hoping they all could go down to breakfast together when they heard sniffles coming from her room and recognized that the door was bolted shut. Instant panic ran through Ino; she had absolutely no idea of what was wrong with her friend and no way of getting to her.<p>

"Sakura please open the door!" Ten ten's voice resonated throughout the hall. They had been trying to get Sakura to open the door for over ten minutes now and she was hoping that this time, she actually would.

There was an abrupt silence then a bolt was heard being unfastened and the door cracked slightly open then opened fully to reveal a tear stained face, crimson red and slightly puffy. Sakura stared at the two girls outside her door who immediately engulfed her in a tight hug; she feebly returned the embrace.

After releasing her, Ino looked at Sakura with questioning eyes. "What happened?"

Sakura wiped away the last of the tears on her face with the back of her hand then massaged her temple. "It's a long story and besides it's time for breakfast"

"Breakfast can wait!" Tenten retaliated, "You were really upset Sakura and we really want to know what caused it". Ino nodded in agreement.

Sakura sighed. She would have to tell them eventually else they wouldn't stop bugging her about it until she spilled-might as well get it over with. She had to admit it, she had persistent best friends.

"Fine….come in"

The girls followed her into her room where she reiterated what happed earlier in the morning.

"Where is that two faced bastard? I want to give him a kick in the butt right now and send him to Mars where he belongs!" Ino jumped from the bed, landing on her feet, ready to go in search for Sasuke.

"Calm down Ino" Tenten was doing her best to talk some sense into the girl's head.

"Ugh! He's such an insensitive jerk. I can't wait to sock it to him!"

It was Sakura's turn to try to calm Ino, "It doesn't make any sense we get our panties in a bunch about the matter now. We're already late for breakfast so we'll deal with it later"

"Says the person who was just crying her eyes out. Aren't you the least bit angry?"

A sigh escaped Sakura's lips. "I am Ino but I'm tired of being angry and miserable just because Sasuke says or does something to hurt my feelings. I'm just so tired"

The other two girls could almost feel Sakura's pain and they did understand how she felt now. She and Sasuke had been at odds for a long time and it had only intensified since recently. They knew something needed to be done and Ino thought she had an idea but she wouldn't suggest it until after breakfast.

"Ok, freshen up and meet us at breakfast. You don't want to add anorexia to your trendy list of problems do you?" Ino achieved her aim as a smile appeared on Sakura's lips.

"No I don't"

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><p>Almost everyone was quiet at breakfast except Naruto and his incessant rambling. Sasuke's parents had had breakfast early because they had business to take care of-the people did own a very successful business and their work didn't stop even on holidays. Itachi had joined them for breakfast that morning, glancing every now and then at his brother who ate silently and at Sakura who seemed distant. He had to come up with a plan to cool the tension between the two or the rest of the week was going to end in complete disaster.<p>

Neji and Shikamaru took the liberty of eyeing the people they were having breakfast with. Something was up and by the looks of it, it wasn't anything to write home about. Nevertheless they kept quiet, trying to ignore Naruto talk about what he planned to do for the day as they ate.

After the meal had been consumed and everyone rose from the table to head off into their own directions because there was nothing planned for that time, Itachi was about to get everyone's attention when Ino beat him to it.

"Wait!...can I talk to you guys for a second?" Her voice echoed throughout the dining room as several pairs of eyes flashed in her direction.

"What do you want Ino?" Sasuke was annoyed.

"You of all people should know what I want you insensitive jerk!" She turned to Itachi, "Is there a room where we all can go to talk?"

Itachi nodded as he led them to their father's conference room far down a hall away from the dining room. Somehow he knew what Ino was going to talk about but did she have a plan of some sort?

After everyone had entered the rather spacious room, curious as to what Ino had to say, she didn't waste a moment after closing the door behind them.

"I know that almost everyone here is dying to know what I have to say-"

"I'm dying to know why you're wasting my morning! I spotted a ramen shop a few blocks away from here yesterday and I can't wait to check it out!" Naruto technically squealed the last part of his sentence.

Ino only rolled her eyes at him before continuing. Didn't he just eat? He must have and endless abyss in his stomach. She wondered where it all went.

"Anyways, I don't know about you guys but I'm fed up of Sasuke's and Sakura's fighting all the time. Who agrees?"

She was a bit shocked to hear shouts of agreement and see raised hands. At least she wasn't wasting their time. People needed their sleep and she needed her best friend to be happy.

Sasuke glowered at her. A voting session over something so trivial? She had to be kidding. He scoffed as he looked away.

"Who needs it to stop?"

Another bout of agreements burst from the room. She turned to the two people in question.

"It's unanimous-the fighting has got to go" She gave Sasuke a sour accusing glare as she said this. He successfully managed to ignore her.

Itachi thought the whole thing was a bit dramatic and over rated. Nevertheless Ino was right; the tension between his younger brother and Sakura was too high. He secretly wondered if his brother truly had no feelings for her anymore. There was only one way to find out, despite how absurd the thought was; he had to meddle.

"Do you have a plan?" His question was directed at Ino as his dark eyes scanned her face.

She smiled at him wickedly before she gave Sasuke an evil, dirty look, "O yeah". She then returned her attention to Itachi and motioned him to her as she shared her brilliant idea.

* * *

><p>"Hell no! I'm not agreeing to that!" Sasuke's voice reverberated throughout the large, empty conference room. Ten minutes after when everyone save for Itachi, Ino, Sakura and Sasuke exited the room, Ino and Itachi began to dish out the proposal to the enemies.<p>

"It's a simple deal Sasuke. All you and Sakura have to do is promise us that you won't fight with each other for the rest of the week. If you do that, everything will run smoothly but if you break it at all, you're gonna have to take Sakura on a date every time you breach the deal-" Ino was cut off by Itachi who continued.

"Which means if you fight for the rest of the week, prepare for multiple dates" Itachi had a smug smirk plastered across his lips which Sasuke was itching to knock right off him.

"And what if I refuse?" Sasuke thought the deal was completely pointless and had no intention of agreeing to it.

Itachi gave Sasuke an amused look, "Excuse us for one second please". He grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him to one side of the room. "If you dare refuse this deal, I'll have Sakura over there find out about your little childish fantasies with her and trust me Sasuke, you're going to hate that more than this deal"

"Are you bribing me? Besides I doubt she'll believe you"

"What do you think? And trust me she'll definitely believe me. Think of it as me doing you a favor" The smirk on Itachi's face widened. He was enjoying this too much. It's not like he disliked his brother in any way. Of course not. Sasuke just needed to grow up and Itachi was just giving him a little 'push'.

Sasuke on the other hand was far from enjoying this. Any way he took it, whether he accepted the deal or not, to put it bluntly, he was salt. He frowned at Itachi as they walked back towards Ino and Sakura who were having a small conversation. He sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Ok, I'm in"

Ino thought she heard wrong, "Excuse me-what?"

Sasuke reiterated his response, "I said I'm in. I agree to your stupid deal"

Ino almost choked on her laughter, "Why the change of thought?"

"It doesn't matter"

Itachi directed his attention to Sakura who was sitting in one of the nearby chairs. "And you Sakura? Do you also agree?"

She stood up, obviously worn out by the situation and ready to leave the room. A sigh escaped her lips, "Might as well, it's not like I have a choice". And she really didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't go home to avoid him and she was really tired of arguing with Sasuke. Ino had told her that the deal was for her best and it would be more beneficial to her. All she had to do was avoid him as much as possible and everything would be ok. Then again that was what she decided to do the last time and look where she was now. She supposed it didn't matter because this time would be different. At least she hoped it would be.

"If you're all done wasting my time, I'm leaving" Sasuke marched out of the room, his faint masculine scent left in his stead as the door closed behind him.

The remaining three then left the room after him, each headed off in their own directions. Sakura of course went back to _her _room. She was starting to love the confined area a bit more these days. Not long after she had gone in, a knock was heard on her door. What is it with these people? Weren't they tired of knocking on the damned thing? She lazily hopped off the bed and went to see who is was disturbing her.

"Hi again", a wide smile and dark eyes met her bright green ones. Itachi. Of course.

She couldn't help the smile that surfaced on her own lips. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought you might be a bit bored and want to come out for a bit", Of course he had ulterior motives. He had made it his duty to hang out with her a lot because he knew it would bother his brother who was in denial. Or it could be classified as his way of, well to put it simply, finding out information. But she didn't have to know that. Neither did his _Otouto._

Her smile quickly disappeared as it had appeared, "Apparently Sasuke thinks that my 'mingling' with you is bad news for the family so I should stay clear of your company" She had used air quotes to try to get her point across.

Itachi sneered at her comment, "Seriously? And you're going to do what he says?"

"It's not like I want to, I just….it's complicated all right"

"So let's get things uncomplicated. Sasuke can be a bit difficult sometimes especially when it comes to his family. I'm not saying that it's ok to be the way he is but he has his reasons-"

"You keep saying he has his reasons! What reason can someone have to be completely cold and taciturn?" She stopped when she noticed how high pitched her voice was. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to shout"

"That's ok. I'll tell you what. Why don't you come and hang out with me and forget about all of that? We could even go somewhere otherwise from here and return in time for the dinner party" He stared at her expectantly.

Sakura had to admit that Itachi's suggestion was really tempting. So tempting that she agreed. She would kill for time away from Sasuke and here it was handed to her on a silver platter. She'd be nuts to give up the opportunity.

"Ok, let's go"

* * *

><p>"Good evening, thank you for attending", a butler nodded to another guest as they entered the manor for the dinner fete. It was a formal setting and many of Fugaku's business partner's, associates and other family members attended the occasion. All of them drove expensive cars, wore designer outfits and outclassed the Japanese population.<p>

"Sasuke, darling! My how you've grown!" Sasuke's aunt Uruchi-san embraced him in a tight hug, nearly squeezing him to death. She wasn't exactly the skinniest female around.

He feebly returned the embrace, "Uruchi-obasan, it's a pleasure to have you here" Sasuke really did mean every word he said. His aunt was a warm and pleasant lady, untainted by the riches she possessed. He hadn't seen her in a while so it was nice that she came tonight. When he had released her, his parents entertained her in conversation before moving on to greet other guests. He had to do the same. He didn't go through all those overbearing etiquette, tea ceremony and whatever else class he had to endure for nothing.

Meanwhile, Itachi also greeted some of the guests and family members he came across. The fact that he had Sakura latched onto his arm made him a bit more interesting to some of his kin as they were curious to find out who she was. The media was also there covering the event and they never failed to flash the camera in their direction. Sakura was nearly blinded by all the lights and was completely annoyed by all the attention. They had to make it clear to several nosy reporters that they were just friends keeping each other's company for the night. All of them seemed disappointed with the news but Sakura was almost sure she'd read otherwise in some gossip teen mag-paparazzi were infamous for their common acts of 'stretching' the truth. She had noticed Sasuke's eyes on them a few times but managed to ignore him; tonight would be smooth sailing, of that she was sure.

Hinata neatly walked over to them and excused Sakura so that she could meet the girl's parents. The Hyuuga's had also attended the event to surprise both Neji and Hinata, besides they were invited business associates. She was overly thrilled when she saw them but contained her excitement as she introduced Sakura, Tenten and Ino to them. She'd let them meet Naruto at a later date when they would be ready to accept what he was to her.

The night was going really smoothly as soft, sweet music filled the air and people danced while others sat at their tables engaging in conversation or consuming the delicious food served. The venue was in the mansion's banquet hall which was pretty spacious and extremely beautifully decorated tonight. Sasuke was making his way to the kitchen to check on the meals being prepared by the chefs although he never had to; it was just a way to escape. He pushed open the door, ready to enter the kitchenette when-whoops! A tray of food came slamming into his chest, leaving his previously immaculate tuxedo sporting several appetizers pressed into it. The girl carrying the tray looked horrified as she placed one hand over her agape mouth and the other holding the empty tray to her chest.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" She reached out the hand that previously covered her mouth to pluck pieces of squid from Sasuke's soiled shirt.

"Why don't you look where you're going?" He wore a scowl on his face. Great. Just great. At least he was home so he could just go and change. He then recognized the girl to be Sudeki and remembered that she was nothing more than a bag of nerves.

"I…..I could help you change that shirt", She recognized what she had said and a blush appeared on her cheeks. She quickly amended, "I mean, I could get you a new shirt"

He sighed, she was totally hopeless. "That's ok, I'll just go and change. You could however go and tell my parents that I've had a minor accident but I'll be back down in a few"

She stood there frozen staring at him dumbfounded. He mentally slapped himself; she was more than hopeless, "You could go and do that now"

"O yeah" She went towards the counter to put down the tray then exited the kitchen into the banquet hall. He watched her as she went and decided that she was the weirdest girl he had ever met before leaving to go to his room.

* * *

><p>After the night's festivities had ended, and everyone had bid their farewells, most of the household had retired to bed except Sasuke and a few house maids and caterers who stayed behind to clean up the room. He sipped on a non-alcoholic beverage as he roamed through his blackberry and was surprised when Sudeki turned up in front of his table to clear away the dishes.<p>

"Shouldn't you be home or something?" His eyes held her small frame as she worked her way around the table.

"I should, shouldn't I?" She smiled at him and continued. "However, my mom works in the kitchen, so I just help her until she's ready to go. We have our car parked outside"

"Aa"

"Are you ok?" She sat in one of the chairs opposite to him and gave him a worried look. "I'm sorry about tonight"

"It's ok, it's only a tuxedo" He was a bit annoyed by her presence but refused to show it; he already had one pink-headed female hating his guts.

"Ok" She finished clearing the table then gave him a final look, "Well I've got to go. Good night Sasuke-san"

He nodded a response and watched her while she left. Maybe she wasn't that bad after all.

Later that night as he lay in his bed, Sasuke decided that maybe he needed to revisit those childish feelings he had for Sakura, and find out if something was actually still there.

**PLEASE review-thank you.** I hope you enjoyed it. I'm kinda sorta on my way to reducing the tension between Sasuke and Sakura so don't worry. I'll be working on the next chap so looking forward to posting it!


	5. Truth or Dare

HEY AGAIN! I sincerely apologize for the late update. I was feeling kind of depressed but lo and behold! Here it is!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I wish I did. This chapter has been written for over a month now but due to a lot of complications in my life right now that I have no control over, I could not post it. Please forgive me. I'll update as soon as possible but no promises.**

Truth or Dare

"Sakura, hurry up! We don't have the entire day you know!" The group had a busy day today: visiting a theme park, shopping for clothes to wear to the upcoming masquerade ball and games night.

"I'm coming Ino! I just can't seem to decide if I should wear my purple tube top or that magenta sleeveless one over there" She pointed to the blouse strewn across her bed with a few others tossed out of her suitcase as Ino poked her head into the room to see what was taking the girl so long.

"You've got to be kidding me. Fashion crisis this early in the morning?" Ino sighed as she neared her best friend. "Ok, here's what" She put a perfectly manicured finger to her lips as she started matching outfits. "That purple top would go really well with your dark blue skinny jeans. Ooo and those snakeskin peektoes over there will complete the piece perfectly. Now get dressed and come on!"

Despite the fact that Ino was hastening Sakura out, the outfit that she put together for her friend was really stunning. After Sakura had thrown on the outfit, popped in a pair of sparkling crystal drop earrings and let down her hair which came trailing down her back in tresses of pink curls, Ino's mouth literally dropped open when her friend was finished.

Sakura spun around for Ino, almost tripping in the five-inched heels (it was a present from her mom which she never ever wore before). "So how do I look?" She wore a daring smile on her full pink lips.

"Fabulous. What would you do without me?"

"Get hauled away by the fashion police" The two laughed whole-heartedly as they left the room.

* * *

><p>Everyone was already out in the driveway where two limos were parked to take the group on their day's excursion. Sasuke insisted on driving his own car despite his parents' badgering him into taking the limos with his friends but Sasuke was well known for his stubborn nature and so he was going to have his own way today.<p>

His back was propped up against his car as he watched his excited friends idling the morning away knowing fully that it would almost be time for them to leave. He sighed, staring down at his watch; the week was almost unbearable but he could not quite understand why he had this tiny bit of excitement aching his nerves-just a tinge and it angered him even more. He popped his head up for a second just to notice Sakura and Ino making their way into the driveway…and what was Sakura wearing?

He had never seen Sakura wear anything so…so fashionable for lack of a better word. Her outfit wasn't trashy but it wasn't too simple either like the clothes she usually wore and her hair. The locks of pink beauty were in springy curls that bounced on her shoulder and her back every time she took a step. What was he doing? He immediately looked away. Was Sasuke Uchiha just checking out Sakura Haruno?

Sakura walked past Sasuke without giving him so much as a glance and stopped when she approached Hinata and Tenten.

"Wow!" The two girl's voices escaped their lips simultaneously.

"Stop it you guys, you're embarrassing me! Really" A light blush appeared across the girl's cheeks.

Tenten then started to laugh uncontrollably until her eyes watered. She caught her breath as she spoke, "You do realize that we are only going to a theme park and doing a bit of shopping today right?... which means that you'll probably be covered in barf, ketchup or some other junk by the time we leave the fair"

"I know but Ino put together the outfit last minute and besides it's really cute. I don't really mind if anything happens to it though, I'll just kick off these heels and it'll be a funfest!" She threw her hands in the air for added effect and grinned sheepishly.

Just then, Itachi popped up out of nowhere, a sly smirk on his lips as he glanced at Sasuke then returned his face to a blank expression as he commanded everyone's attention.

"So…. I assume we're all ready to go now?" He eyed everyone as he made his way to one of the stretch limos, greeted the driver, and then leaned on one of the doors.

Ino looked at him bizarrely, her face scrunched up quizzically. "Wait, you're coming?"

Itachi's eyes flashed in her direction and a sardonic smile spread across his lips. "Of course I am. I have to keep an eye on my little brother"

Immediately Sasuke's eyes locked to his, narrowing in disgust. How old did his brother think he was? He didn't need to be chaperoned! He was about to make a rude comment when his brother quickly amended, chuckling as he added." Of course Sasuke doesn't need my watching over him, but our parents suggested that I accompany all of you today. Besides, I had nothing better to do"

After Itachi had spoken, a small car pulled up into the driveway; the owner of the vehicle obviously nowhere close to being rich. A tall woman, seemingly in her early forties stepped out of the car. Her simple outfit of a white cotton pressed blouse with a red bow tie beneath the firm collar and black knee-length skirt identified her as one of the household workers. She closed the car door and motioned to someone inside, hastening them out of the car. Sudeki popped her leg and head out the adjacent door, straightening her white blouse as she eased her way out of the vehicle. She wore a pair of gray capris and white flip flops, her brunette hair caught in a pony. She looked up shyly, almost embarrassed at everyone who stared at her.

"Good morning"

A chorus of good mornings echoed back at her. Naruto examined her curiously wondering where he had seen her face before them exclaimed his question almost deafening everyone. "Hey, don't you go to our school?" He rubbed his chin in deep thought then added, "Yeah, you're in my English and Math class…..what are you doing here?"

By this time Sudeki's face was a shade of deep red, her embarrassment increased tenfold. She could hardly deal with the eyes that stared at her especially Sasuke's that monitored her with such intensity.

"Well I work here sometimes with my mom. Help her out and all" She smiled sheepishly twisting her left fingers in her right hand before she told her mother to go in, she'd be there soon.

In an attempt to calm herself and evade the attention, she decided to ask where they were going, feigning impassiveness. "So where are you guys off to?"

"Ah Sasuke-teme here is taking us out to a theme park for the day" Naruto walked over to Sasuke and gave him a rough pat on the shoulder, grinning as Sasuke frowned at him. "Isn't that great?"

"I'm not taking you anywhere dobe. We're going as a group"

Sudeki laughed at the childish display before her, unable to control herself. She then paused to look at the time and noticed she was a bit late. "O crap, I have to go. I hope you guys enjoy your day" She was about to walk off when she heard Sasuke's cool voice. It echoed in her ears.

"Why don't you come with us?"

All eyes turned to his direction, faces in awe, soda falling from the owner's hands (Shikamaru), mouths dropping open and crickets making their famous chirps in the background.

Sudeki turned around, unable to believe her ears. "Excuse me?"

Sasuke sounded bored as he repeated his question. "I said why don't you come with us? Surely working at my house isn't that exciting". Sasuke knew one thing for sure; she was going to say yes. He wasn't psychic but he could definitely tell.

It wasn't that he liked her or anything but his brother was playing a cruel game he enjoyed too much and here was his chance to get back at him-two could play his game. Of course he wasn't using her, she seemed nice enough and he was only going to build their 'friendship'. She would benefit from it too. Honestly.

"I…..I don't know if I can do that, yes I'd love to come but I would have to ask my mom"

"I'll ask her for you" He grabbed his blackberry from his pocket then dialed the number for the kitchen. Since he already knew her mother who had been working at the house for quite some time, he requested her to the phone and asked her permission in the most charming voice he could muster. He then handed Sudeki the cell and waited on her to finish talking to her mother before he noticed the several pairs of eyes watching him. "Is there a problem?"

"Nope, none here" Shikamaru and Naruto replied scathingly.

The girls shook their heads in a negative response although he could hear their almost inaudible whispers. Neji seemed ignorant to what was happening, staring into the sky obviously not caring. Itachi's eyes scanned him in question. He knew his _otouto_ was up to something.

"So I guess I'm coming then. Thank you Sasuke-san" Sasuke returned his attention to Sudeki who handed back his phone to him and smiled. He took the device and shoved it into his pocket then gestured her to the front seat of his car as he slid into the driver's seat.

She raised an elegant eyebrow inquiringly, looking at Sasuke as he entered the car. "I thought we we're taking the limos"

"No, the others are taking them. I'm driving my car. You could join them if you want to though, I wouldn't mind"

She shrugged off-handedly. "That's ok. I'm not really too familiar with anyone else, so I'll stay. Thanks again for inviting me"

"It's nothing really" He rested his right arm on the steering wheel, leaning back in his seat deep in thought. He wondered if this was a bad idea then exhaled. Only one way to find out. He turned his key in the ignition, smirking as the engine roared to life then stepped on the gas pedal.

Meanwhile the others got into the limos, girls in one, guys in the other and followed Sasuke's car out of the driveway.

* * *

><p>(Limo Conversations-girls)<p>

"I can't believe that Sasuke invited her. I mean come on its Sasuke. Never knew he had it in him" Ino looked across from her seat at Sakura. "It's weird isn't it Saku?

The cherry blossom looked up at Ino, partially annoyed. "I really don't care Ino so you can't ask me that"

"Geesh, it was just a simple question"

Tenten then joined the conversation. "Maybe he likes her. He is human you know"

Ino seemed unconvinced as she scoffed. "Sometimes I find it hard to believe that that creep can like anyone" She turned her head to Hinata who was busy looking through the window. "So what do you think Hinata?"

"I…I agree with Tenten. What I'm really curious about is your relationship with Itachi, Sakura" She had a glint of amusement in her pearly eyes, probing gently.

Tenten and Ino nodded obviously interested in the topic. They've been meaning to ask her about that.

"Yeah, you two have been hanging out a lot. Especially yesterday. What's going on?" Ino gave her friend a playful punch on her arm, a mischievous smile marring her lips.

Sakura stared at the three pairs of anxious eyes waiting to devour the juicy information. "Sorry to burst your bubble guys, but there's absolutely nothing between us. He's just really nice, an _angel_ (she made sure to emphasize the angel part) compared to Sasuke so naturally we've become good friends. I really don't like him like that and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way"

"Are you sure?" Hinata inquired dubiously.

"Positive"

"Man, and here I was ready to unravel some juicy information" Ino snorted as she leaned back in her seat.

Sakura grabbed one of the magazines on the seat beside her and threw it at Ino laughing. "Here, have a gossip mag!"

The rest of the girls laughed with her.

(Limo Conversation-guys)

"I haven't had any serious conversations with the teme in a while. I need to ask him about that girl. It's odd how he just invited her don't you think Shika?" Naruto looked up to see the lazy bastard dozing in his seat, then threw a piece of scrunched up paper at him. "Wake up you lazy stump!"

Shikamaru sluggishly opened his eyes and rubbed the back of his head as drool made its way down his mouth. "What?"

Neji looked at him, repulsed. "You are absolutely lethargic"

Shikamaru ignored him and lazily stared at Naruto, eyebrows raised in question.

"You're gonna sleep your life away! Gosh you just woke up. At least look a bit enthusiastic about the day will yah?" Naruto sighed. "Anyways I was saying that it's weird how Sasuke just invited Sudeki"

Itachi who was staring blankly through the window laid all his attention on Naruto.

"Yeah, it's weird so what? The guy's undeniably hard to comprehend sometimes, so why bother?" Shikamaru proceeded to stretch out his legs as far as they could go in the seat, tucking both his hands behind his head to cushion it, yawning.

"So much for an opinion" Naruto huffed folding his arms to his chest.

The two limos pulled up in the parking lot beside Sasuke's Mercedes, a few passersby staring in their direction.

"So we're here" Itachi began. "Apple-Valley Theme Park" He stepped out of the car as soon as the chauffeur opened the door and was followed by the other guys who went over by the girls' limo to join them.

Sasuke briskly got out of his car, smoothly walking to the opposite side to open Sudeki's door. He did not miss the shock that came across her face as she was about to do the job herself but left it to him. He ignored it. They then strolled over to the rest of the group, Sasuke's face a bit taut and Sudeki wearing a broad smile.

Naruto spun around on his heels, grinning at the many food stalls and rides he saw from where he was standing. An immediate wave of excitement ran up his spine. "Ok, where to first?"

"Naruto calm down!" Tenten interrupted. "Since we're here on Sasuke's behalf, we'll have him choose which ride we go on first" She paused, a wide smile spread on her lips. "Then we do whatever we want" She turned to Sasuke who gazed at her, disinterested.

"You guys can go where ever you want to, I really don't care"

Naruto frowned. "Teme why don't you take the stick from up your ass and at least pretend to want to be here, will you? Now come on choose a ride so we can start having some fun!" His palms were balled in a fist, aimed at the raven haired Casanova.

Sasuke stared him down, "Choose one you idiot since you're that excited"

"They said you should do it, moron!"

It was hard to believe that the two of them were best friends. Everyone was getting impatient. It was way too early to have Sasuke getting on anyone's nerves so Sakura stepped in. Soon after, she wished she didn't.

"Ok you two stop it!" Her hands were outstretched separating the two. "Sasuke just choose something so we can get on with our day" Damn this guy was a pain in the butt.

Sasuke knew he was being difficult but what the heck. She wasn't even supposed to talk to him. "Stay out of this"

"Ugh, you are such an ass! Can't you feign being nice for once in your life?"

"No I can't. Do you have a problem with that?"

Sudeki stared back and forth at the two teenagers. She didn't like her trip so far and suddenly she wished she had said no.

"We'll go on the bumper car rides now for a warm up ride. There, decision made so you two can quit arguing" Itachi's authoritative voice interjected causing the squabble to cease. An impish smirk then appeared on his lips. "O by the way, you two know what this means"

Sakura slapped her forehead, furious. She had forgotten about that stupid deal.

Sasuke was bewildered. He had so carelessly forgotten about his brother's little farce. Damn him! His plan was being ruined! What's the point of inviting Sudeki when he wasn't even going to get to hang with her?

Itachi stepped over to Sudeki, smiling to relieve her of her obvious discomfort. "You don't mind tagging along with me for the rest of the day do you? My brother has other matters at hand" He glanced at Sasuke as he said this. Amused.

Sudeki had spoken to Itachi a few times before although not casually so she didn't completely not know him and he really did seem nice. She returned his smile half-heartedly glancing at Sasuke in the process. "No, I don't mind"

Naruto was completely clueless as was everyone else except Ino." Hey, what's going on?"

Ino sighed heavily. "Long story"

Itachi laughed at Sasuke who was glaring at Sakura. "Hey, why the long faces? We have a full day ahead of us, let's go!" He then stopped and turned around. "By the way, we meet back here at twelve so we can go get lunch"

Everyone grabbed their partner's hands (Some complaining about being dragged by their excited girlfriends) and headed off to the bumper car rides leaving the nemeses standing in the parking lot.

Sakura glared at Sasuke dangerously. "This is all your fault. If you had just picked something, I wouldn't be stuck with you for the day!"

"How's this my fault? It's not like I'm enjoying this any more than you do"

Sakura rubbed her temples. "Ugh just drop it. I'm getting a headache" She retreated to lean on a nearby post for support.

He broke his eyes from her and stared off into the distance at the hundreds of people pacing up and down the grounds, enjoying the different rides. He then leaned on his car, hands stuffed into his pockets. He sighed.

She wasn't going to let Sasuke kill her fun today. Hell no! "If you plan to stand there for the entire day sulking, be my guest but I came here to have fun so I will. With or without you"

His pools of black lazily returned to her figure.

"O, and I could very well do without your stuck up attitude today, spare me" She pushed herself up from the post then strutted off into the direction of the first joy ride before Sasuke even had the chance to comment. To her surprise, he walked behind her muttering a string of curses, some of which included 'killing' and 'Itachi'.

"That was awesome!" Naruto jumped off his fourth ride for the day, pulling a rather nauseous Hinata behind him as he searched out another ride to jump on. He spotted Neji, Tenten, Ino and Shikamaru about to board the thrilling roller coaster and scurried over to them, eager to join the ride.

"Hey Hinata? Are you ok? You don't look so go-!" Naruto never even finished his sentence when a blob of chunky barf came splattering at him from his girlfriend's mouth. They managed to get all their friend's attentions that pitied Naruto but still worried about Hinata.

"O my gosh! Naruto I'm so sorry! I just felt a little queasy from the last ride" Hinata was a deep shade of red as she gingerly used a napkin to wipe the chunky goo from her boyfriend's shirt, covering her mouth with her other hand.

Naruto smiled sweetly at her to her surprise. "That's ok, I guess we could take a break. Come on. Let's go get cleaned up" He gently grasped her hands and slowly walked to the restrooms.

Tenten and Ino cooed at the sight. "Shika, why can't you be like that?" Ino punched Shikamaru hard on the right shoulder, earning a 'troublesome woman' from the boy.

_(Meanwhile)_

"I haven't enjoyed one single ride from morning because of you!" Sakura limped to sit on one of the chairs in the park, Sasuke walking slowly behind her. "Ouch, my feet hurt" She slipped off the heels which were getting really painful to walk in then rubbed her slightly swollen feet gently.

"You are so annoying". She looked up on impulse after hearing his deep monotonous voice.

"Whatever, I'm not in the mood to pick another fight with you. Seeing as how you got us stuck with each other for the day we might as well try to get along". Just then her eyes spotted her friends in the line for the roller coaster and she decided that she wasn't missing that ride. She quickly jumped up from the seat, heels in her hands. "I'm going on the roller coaster"

"I don't want to go on that ride"

"Well I want to go on it and Itachi claims that we have to stick together so come on!" She immediately walked off barefooted, headed for the said ride not waiting for Sasuke to object again.

Not long after she joined the line a tall man seeming to be in his early twenties with sandy brown hair walked up to her. He was on the other side of the railing. He wore a wide smirk on his lips and his dark-blue eyes twinkled at her. "Well hello there sweet thing, what's someone like you doing here?"

Well obviously she was here to enjoy the rides like everyone else. Why else would she be here?

"Just checking out the rides" She gave him a half-hearted smile, wishing he'd just ignore her and go on his way. There was something in his eyes she didn't like. Was that lust she saw?

He continued, leaning on the handrail beside her, that same wide smirk on his lips. "So, are you here alone? It would be a pity if someone was here with you"

"I'm with her" Sasuke moved closer to her in the line, arms folded and his face rigid. His eyes narrowed at the stranger indicating that he should back off.

The guy leaned up off the rail and stood straight, sticking his hands into his pockets. "So the girly has a boyfriend. No harm done dude, just looking at the lovely lady here"

Sakura was about to retort, pointing out that Sasuke wasn't her boyfriend but decided against it. It wasn't going to do the situation any good.

"You've had your look, so move it" Sasuke didn't squint for one second and his voice was hard. The man obviously recognized that he wasn't someone to mess with because he instantaneously walked off.

Sakura's cheeks burnt red showcasing her obvious embarrassment. "Um, thanks"

"I didn't do it for you; I just hate those types of guys"

She thought; _what don't you hate? _"Well, thanks anyway. O look, it's our turn" Her voice was almost a squeal, her excitement unable to be contained.

He sighed as he stepped up to the cart with her.

* * *

><p>"So…..I didn't know that you were friends with my brother" Itachi glanced at Sudeki as they headed back to the parking lot to meet up with the others.<p>

"We're not really that great friends, we just talked a little here and there about stuff" She genuinely smiled at him, stuffing her hands in her pockets as she walked. She really enjoyed his company and he had made her laugh a few times, so hard in fact, she nearly choked. She had no idea he was this amiable and hilarious.

"Ah, stuff. So, how are you enjoying your day so far?"

Oddly, she liked his spontaneity. He was just so random. One moment they were talking about hobbies, then the next, they were on cars. "It's really nice, much better than cleaning your kitchen" She laughed and he laughed with her as they reached their destination where everyone already was.

Naruto seemed the most excited about lunch; then again that was expected. "So, what's for lunch?"

* * *

><p>They didn't leave the theme park till three. Everyone was drained when they reached the shopping mall, even Ino refused to jump out of the vehicle and go dress hunting. Shopping was her middle name! They didn't even have to pay for anything they would buy because Sasuke's parents were covering it and even that fact didn't give anyone the drive to move.<p>

"Will you lazy blobs get out so we can hurry up and get the shopping done?" Naruto had stepped out of his limo, and then stuck his head back in urging the guys to get out. Once he had succeeded, earning a few curses from them, he went over to the girls' limo and did the same. A few magazines came hurling his way but he still managed to get them out.

Ino leaned on the car, looking at Naruto as she whined. "Where does he get his energy?"

"You can't ask me but he's right. This might take a while so we need to go find some cute dresses" Sakura was really tired but she thought about how nice it would be once they got back to the house.

Tenten nodded in agreement. "Ok guys, let's go then" They then headed into the mall.

Sudeki still sat in the front seat of Sasuke's car after three-quarters of the group had walked off. He had made no efforts to move and neither did she. After all she wasn't really invited to the event they were shopping for, she didn't have any money for shopping and it would feel weird to go inside especially when she wasn't buying anything.

"Aren't you going with them?" She cocked her head to the side, looking in Sasuke's direction.

"I couldn't just leave you here could I? Come on"

She hesitated as he moved to open his door. "But I'm not invited to your party plus I'm not going to get anything"

"Well as of now you're invited and don't worry about it, I'll buy you something to wear" He gave her a half smile or at least something of the sort then proceeded to get out of the car. Girls could be so dense sometimes.

She got out after him then objected to his offer. "That's a really nice proposition but I can't acce-"

He cut her off. "It's not a problem really besides I'm the one who invited you so I should pay". He could have told her that everyone else wasn't actually paying for their clothes but decided that he wouldn't. He slowly walked off into the mall with her behind him.

Two hours and a lot of trying on different gowns and tuxedos later, everyone was back in the driveway carrying a bunch of heavy shopping bags. They managed to poke themselves along with their luggage in the vehicles then headed 'home' to get some rest before dinner.

* * *

><p>"So did you kids enjoy your day?" Mikoto looked around at all the faces sitting at the dining table as they ate dinner.<p>

"It was wonderful Mikoto-san. A bit tiresome but really exciting" Sakura had been the one to respond and several others shook their heads in agreement.

"Well, we're glad that you enjoyed your day. Aren't we darling?" She looked to her husband who gave her a reassuring nod.

"Sasuke, have you liked your week so far?" Fugaku looked at his younger son with keen eyes. He knew he did not appreciate him asking such a question in the presence of his friends but sometimes people didn't always get what they liked.

Every eye around the table turned to Sasuke's direction. "It's ok". It wasn't an 'I hate it' or an 'I love it' but it was as good an answer as he could give.

His father shook his head. "Ah. Well, that's good" He slowly got up from the table, his wife imitating him. "If you'll please excuse my wife and me, we have matters to attend to. I hope you'll all enjoy the remainder of your night"

In another second, they were both gone.

"Your parents are hardly ever around Itachi" Sakura looked at him, curious.

He gave her a detached smile. "Well they are very busy people. They aren't usually this occupied though. Company's anniversary and all"

"O, ok"

Naruto sprang up from his chair, nearly knocking it over in his enthusiasm. "So who's ready for games night?" His bright blue eyes glowed and a wide grin was plastered across his face.

"Whoo! I am!" Ino's excited scream was almost piercing. She threw her hands up in the air as she slid her legs from beneath the table and jumped up.

Shikamaru covered his ears. He of all persons knew how loud Ino got when she was excited.

"Calm down Ino before you give us headaches" Tenten gently rubbed her ears trying to stop them from ringing.

"Ooo sorry. Ok so where are we having this games night of ours?" Ino was looking at Sasuke who was finishing up his meal.

He slowly looked up at her, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "The games room obviously, where else would it be?"

She fumed at his sarcasm. "I don't live here. How the hell should I know that you have a games room?"

He got up from the table, ignoring her completely as he headed off into the direction of the said room. "Follow me"

Everyone filed out of the room behind him.

"Gosh, he doesn't have to make it sound like we are getting death sentenced. Doesn't the guy know how to sound enthusiastic about anything?" Ino muttered under her breath. Sakura laughed at her comment.

They exited the dining room and stopped at the first door leading down to a hall. Sasuke opened the double doors and walked in, everyone strolling in behind him. The room which was carpeted in gray was really expansive. There was a large flat screened TV to one end with several gaming devices attached to it. Four large black leather couches surrounded the area, a small table positioned between each of them. There were two other large flat screened TVs in two other corners, a Wii bike-pedal game attached to one and a Wii arcade dance game attached to the other. There were black and white bean bags positioned in different places and cushions packed in several areas. A glass cabinet that held several DVDs, Blu-ray discs and videogames sat in the far end of the room beside two Mac desktops and there were several speakers positioned in different areas. The entire room had a built in air conditioning system.

"Oh my God! You have got to be kidding me!" Ino held her hands to her mouth as she observed the room in awe. "Is this seriously a part of your house? Wow"

"Teme! You're telling me that you have all of this cool stuff at your place and you're still that lame? This is amazing!" Naruto walked around the room checking out its contents and nearly went haywire when he discovered that Sasuke had all the latest games.

Sasuke smirked condescendingly content with the fact that they were impressed, even if what he had never really mattered to him.

"Ok, which game do you guys want to play first?" Itachi's voice overpowered all the ooos and aaas coming from the excited teenagers.

"Um" Sakura began, "How about we write down all the games we want to play on pieces of paper, fold them and then choose them randomly?"

Itachi and Tenten nodded while he responded. "That's a great idea, so let's do it"

They were now on charades after playing several video games, Dance Dance Revolution, pin the tail on the donkey and a few others. They were trying to guess what Naruto was and were failing miserably.

Ino was fed up. This game was getting boring. "O for peace sake just tell us what you are! No one is going to guess it" She gave him a jaded stare.

Naruto began to laugh loudly. "I'm Tsunade-obasan! See, I was trying to imitate the really huge boobs, ponytails and her sake. I can't believe you guys couldn't get that"

Sakura raised an elegant brow. "Seriously? Anyways, next up is….." She pulled the last piece of paper out of the cup they were in and unfolded it. "What? Spin the bottle? Who wrote this?"

Ino snickered cheekily as she raised her hand. "Guilty"

Sakura moaned. She hated this game for one reason and one reason only. She'd have to do or say something she'd regret and she knew that with Ino playing, she was doomed. "I guess we'll have to play it then since rules say we have to play every single game chosen"

Sasuke groaned. O great, just what he needed; another annoying game.

"Don't sound so gloomy Sakura, it'll be fun" Ino grinned at her impishly.

Sakura glared at her. _Yeah, fun for you._

Everyone else seemed pretty excited about the game save for Sakura and Sasuke. Even Neji seemed a bit thrilled when they gathered to sit in a circle on cushions in the center of the room, a soda bottle positioned in front of them.

"By the way people" Ino reminded. "This game has a few rules that everyone has to follow. One: if the bottle lands on you, you have to do anything the person who spun it says, or you suffer their punishment and two: you have to tell the truth, no lies at all"

Sakura moaned even louder.

Naruto stared at the bottle anxiously. "So who's first?"

Ino leaned over to the object eagerly, grabbing it and giving it a spin. "Me!"

Every eye watched the bottle intently until it came to a halt, pointed at Neji. Ino looked up at him, entertained. "Truth or dare?" Her voice had a teasing ring to it.

Neji folded his arms as he answered. "Truth"

The grin on Ino's face widened. "You Neji Hyuga have masturbated at least once in your life" She waved a slender finger in his face. "Remember, no lying" She burst out in laughter when she saw Neji's face contort.

Tenten stared at him expectantly. "So have you?"

He turned his head away and got up to sit in one of the sofas. "I don't have to answer that, I'll take the punishment"

Ino laughed even harder. "You have to do my homework for the next two weeks"

"Done"

Itachi who was next in line, took the bottle and rotated it. The tip fell on Ino. "Ok Miss Chirpy, you know the question"

"Dare"

"Good. Make out with Naruto" The smirk on his lips were wicked, his eyes danced with amusement.

"Eww, are you kidding me? That's gross!"

"Rules are rules" A bunch of eyes stared in his direction incredulously. Of course he knew she wasn't going to do it. He could bet his life on it.

"That's ok, just give me the penalty" Naruto frowned at her. Of course he didn't want to stick his tongue down her throat either but she didn't have to be so sickened about it.

"How about I let Neji choose" He looked in the boy's direction that seemed a bit shock. Nevertheless he accepted the offer and sent Ino to her doom, stipulating that she carry Naruto's books for the next two weeks.

"Creep" She seethed through gritted teeth. Men with hurt pride always find a way to get back at their prosecutor and their fellow gender always helped. She glowered at Itachi.

Nearly half an hour and a few creepy truths and weird dares later, it was Naruto's turn. He grabbed the bottle and twirled it. "Ok, my turn!" Watching the bottle keenly, he gaped animatedly when it landed on Sakura. "Sakura-chan!"

_Oh God no! The part of the game she hated most was here._

She smiled nervously at Naruto.

"Truth or dare?"

She thought about it for a while_. If she chose truth, Naruto would probably probe deep and dig up something on Sasuke that she wouldn't want to talk about or maybe something embarrassing. If she chose dare he'd probably get her to do something stupid like stick her finger in her nose or burp in public. He wouldn't do anything worse would he? No, it's Naruto. What's the worst he could do? _

She decided to choose the latter but she wasn't ready for what Naruto would dare her to do.

"Dare"

Naruto rubbed his palms together deviously. "I dare you Sakura-chan to **KISS **Sasuke-teme!"

Hadn't she learnt anything from movies? Never ask what the worst could be because it was way worse than what you'd expect. She nearly choked and a deep blush appeared on her cheeks. _Why was she so hot? So flustered?_ "What? No! I can't do that!" She looked at Sasuke who seemed almost as shocked as she was but his impassiveness totally hid it.

Itachi snickered. _Now that's a dare. Nice one Naruto._

_Why was everyone looking at her so eagerly? Were they actually expecting her to do it?_

"_O_h so you'd prefer the retribution then? How would you like to be the teme's biggest fan girl for the next month? Fan girls do crazy stuff you know" His tone was so teasing she refused to believe it was Naruto.

"Are you crazy? That's eternal torture!"

That comment earned her an odd glare from Sasuke. _Why wasn't he objecting to this?_

"It's your choice Sakura-chan. One short stupid kiss or a month of…..well" Now he was laughing. How dare Naruto laugh at her? Damn it! It was like she was prone to bad deals.

She glared at Naruto so dangerously he could feel it. "Naruto I'm going to get you for this! When I'm done with you, forensics won't be able to identify your body!"

Naruto shivered at the image she just painted in his mind. He convinced himself that she couldn't possibly be that angry with him. "Don't worry Sakura-chan, you'll thank me later" He grinned nervously. "I'm sure the teme doesn't mind" This time he was smiling at Sasuke who sent him a death glare.

All eyes stared at her as she moved over to where Sasuke was sitting. The room was so quiet and the only thing she could hear was the pelting lub-dub of her heart. _Why was she this nervous? It's not like it's going to be a real kiss. _

Sasuke stared at her so blankly, his dark orbs observing her every move. He never objected to the idea of her kissing him. Then again he probably hated the idea but went along with it for the sake of the game. For the first time in a long while, she felt so bare. She looked into his pools of darkness simulating stoicism when deep under her nerves betrayed her "Ok, I'm only doing this for the sake of the game. I'm going to hate every single moment of it"

His voice was so cold, it almost hurt. "Just get it over with, I really don't care"

She muttered some curses before closing her eyes and leaning in to him. She swallowed thickly before gently pressing her lips to his, his scent enveloping her nose. His lips were soft. Perfect. For one moment she forgot to breathe, to think, to exist. It was over in two seconds. Slowly she pulled back staring into his eyes questioningly. _Was he just about to kiss her back? She was sure she felt his lips move slightly against hers._

He turned his head away then got up, suddenly ready to leave. "I'm going to bed. It's been a long day and I'm tired" Without waiting for anyone to speak, he was already out of the room, out of sight.

Hinata looked at Sakura with silent apprehension. Sakura seemed dazed. "Saku, are you ok?"

The pink-haired girl blinked, snapping out of her reverie. "Yeah, I'm just tired" She jumped to her feet so fast, her head felt a bit light. "Yeah, that's it, I'm going to bed now" In another second she too disappeared.

Naruto watched as the door swung back as she left. The room was quiet. "Was it just me or was there more to that kiss?"

Sakura twisted and turned in her bed. One stupid kiss and all the feelings she had dumped and forgotten about for Sasuke just came rushing back. She wanted to scream. She was too tired to think about it now anyway. In another second, her heavy eyelids shut and the rain that was pouring outside lulled her off to sleep.

_(Meanwhile)_

Sasuke stared at the ceiling deep in thought, his hands behind his head, cushioning it. The rain outside only made him think more. How did he get here? Was he really falling for Sakura? In another moment he was fast asleep, lost in dreams. Exhaustion did overpower the urge to think. There was always tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow!<strong> Another chapter down! I never knew it was possible. Hehehe! So this chap is longer than usual but it couldn't be helped. Anyways, I hope you all liked it. I'll probably have to try to lessen the appearance of the support characters and focus on Sasuke and Sakura more. You're reviews will be a big help for me to continue writing so send them in please.

**I'll be looking forward to your reviews!**


	6. Let's Dance

Wow! I'm on a mission-lol. I promised you two chaps so here's the other one. Read and enjoy…and review*cute smile*

Please know that you are free to give comments and ask questions, I'll gladly accept them.

I'll post the dress designs described in this chap at a later date.

* * *

><p>Let's Dance<p>

Sakura lazily got up from her bed, changed and headed down to breakfast. She had no idea why she had woken up with such an intense headache, much like the one that she had the first morning she had come to _his _house. That was when she remembered. _She had kissed Sasuke last night; a simple senseless kiss. Damn it! So why did she feel so….so dazed?_ Lost in her thoughts she was just seconds away from realizing that she had missed her step. It was too late to regain her balance as she went tumbling down the stairs, bumping into the said person she was thinking about, landing on the end of the flight.

She nearly choked when she recognized who she had bumped into when his almost blurry figure leaned over her. She noticed that he was sighing and mumbling something about clumsy.

Her butt and arms hurt really badly and her headache had just increased by twenty degrees. She groaned, a light blush appearing on her cheeks as Sasuke surprisingly helped her up.

"Ouch"

"Why don't you look where you're going?" His voice had a concerned edge to it but was concealed by the irritation he said it with.

She moaned, averting her eyes to avoid his stare before gently rubbing her derrière, soothing the pain. "Sorry" Her voice was soft.

Sasuke looked at her oddly, scrunching up his brows then shaking his head as if dismissing a thought. _Why was Sakura apologizing to him? She'd jump off a cliff before she did that. _Taking one last look at her, he continued his journey down the final flight of stairs then headed towards the dining room.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Sasuke's retreating figure before cursing under her breath. "Bastard, he couldn't even ask me if I was ok"

She slowly made her way down the stairs, carefully holding on to the rails and smiled when she stepped on the solid ground floor. She heard chattering coming from behind her and turned around to see Tenten and Hinata coming down. They stopped when they caught up with her.

"Good morning" Both girls echoed the greeting concurrently.

Sakura gave them a simple nod, "Morning"

"So we have the entire day free today until the ball Sakura. You know what that means…" Tenten beamed, gently nudging her. "Girl talk and a whole bunch of party prep stuff"

Sakura gave her a weak smile. Her intense headache wouldn't allow her the luxury of displaying her excitement. "Ok"

Hinata gave her a concerned look. "What's wrong Sakura?"

"O nothing!" She chirped, ready to head off to breakfast when she suddenly halted, gripping her side. "Ouch. Ok" she groaned. "I sorta-kinda fell down the stairs"

Tenten was baffled. "Sorta-kinda? Why didn't you tell us?" She and Hinata quickly grabbed Sakura's hands and helped her towards one of the sofas in the living room.

"What hurts?" Hinata's pearl-white eyes looked up at Sakura as she and Tenten set the girl in the furniture.

"Pretty much everything but it's not that bad. It'll go away if I rest or have a warm bath. My heads what's really killing me"

Tenten grabbed a few extra cushions from the other sofas and stuffed them behind Sakura's head and under her feet for added comfort while Hinata went to go get Itachi (she thought he was easier to deal with compared to Sasuke).

A few minutes later, Itachi came waltzing into the room, a shy Hinata behind him and an energetic Naruto in front of him dashing over to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan are you ok?" He sat beside her in the expansive sofa, his blue eyes filled with worry.

"Do I look ok to you?" He had just made her headache worse with that darned loud voice of his plus she was still angry with him for last night. She felt bad though for snapping at him and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry Naruto, I just have a terrible headache"

He grinned at her and somehow it made her feel a bit better. "That's ok. We'll do everything we can to make you feel better soon"

Itachi walked over to her, a tinge of worry in his eyes. "Hinata told me what happened. Should I call a doctor or it isn't that serious?"

She smiled at him. Compassion was his best gift. "It's not that serious, I just need to rest. A few pain killers for this nagging headache would be good though"

He nodded then offered to take her to her room, using the elevator of course. Naruto volunteered to help. She really didn't need that much help but she appreciated it and never objected. On her way to the elevator, she noticed Sasuke leaning on the entrance of the living room leading into the dining room. His arms were folded and his eyes watched her intently. When he noticed that she was looking at him, he moved from the doorway and returned to the dining room. She averted her gaze, ignoring him as she went into the elevator.

Three minutes later, she was on her floor hopping to her room with Itachi holding her right hand and Naruto holding the left. They brought her into her living space, delicately helping her into her bed.

"Really guys, you don't have to treat me like such an invalid. I'm ok. By the end of the day I'll be as good as new" She climbed unto the expansive furniture, sprawling her limbs all over it and sighing into its warmth.

"Well, that doesn't mean that we can't still handle you gently Sakura-chan" Naruto smiled at her, grabbing some cushions from the sofa next to her bed and stuffing them beneath her legs to elevate them.

She smiled at him. That was Naruto: kind and thoughtful.

Itachi turned to Naruto. "Go down to the kitchen and bring her breakfast and tell Sasuke to give you two painkillers, I'll watch her in the meanwhile"

Naruto nodded then headed out to fulfill the task.

After he had gone out and closed the door, Itachi sat in the sofa beside her bed, staring at her. He smiled. "So how did you manage to fall down the stairs?"

She turned her head to return his gaze. "I don't want to talk about it" She sat up in the bed, leaning back on the horde of pillows behind her.

He still smiled. "That's ok" He leaned forward, elbows on his knees and his fingers intertwined before him.

There was silence. A thick silence that was a bit overbearing.

"So, do you have a girlfriend?" It was a random question to ask but a question nevertheless. Sakura never did like silence. It always made her think more than she should. And overthinking amplified her headaches.

He looked up at her, jaded. A sigh escaped his lips.

She began again, not wanting to upset him. "If you don't want to talk about that we-"

"I had one. We broke up about a month ago"

She looked down at her hands, knotting them into her sheets. "I'm sorry about that"

"It's ok Sakura. People break up all the time. She just brings back a few memories that's all. I'll live. So how about you? I'm guessing that you're single now" He rested back into the sofa, his eyes focusing on her.

"Yeah you're right, I am single now. I've only ever had one boyfriend in my life and we broke up last year. Things got really complicated. It doesn't matter now anyway" She stared at her fingers noticing that they were badly in need of a manicure.

Itachi's words came out softer. He was deep in thought, reminiscing. "Such are relationships. They always-"

"Sakura-chan, its breakfast time!" Naruto pushed the door open with his legs, carrying a tray of food in his hands. He strolled over to Sakura's bed, setting down the tray on her bedside table then joined Itachi on the sofa.

Sakura smiled at him. "Thanks Naruto" She scanned the items on the tray and looked around as if something was missing. "Where are the painkillers?"

Naruto stretched, grinning as he did so. "O teme's gone into his room for those. He'll be bringing them over in a minute. Man I'm starved; I guess I need to go get me some breakfast soon"

Sakura stared at him bewildered. _He couldn't have just gotten Sasuke to give him the pills? Ugh! She didn't want Sasuke in her roo…._

There was a knock on the door that earned all their attentions. Naruto hurriedly got up to answer it, opening the door to reveal an impatient Sasuke standing in the entrance. He handed Naruto the pills and was about to walk away when Itachi quickly got up and rushed to the door to stop him.

"Sasuke, wait!"

The boy's already annoyed face quickly morphed into a deeper frown.

"What do you want?"

"Why so snippy? Jealous of my being in Sakura's room….talking?" Itachi wore a wide sneer across his lips, joshing.

"Cut the crap and get to the point, I don't have time for your little games" Sasuke hissed.

Itachi sobered, his smile disappearing and his face becoming firm. "Fine, I'm going to need you to stay with Sakura for a few minutes, I promise it won't be long"

Sasuke shrugged. "Why can't the dobe do it?"

"Because we both need to have our breakfast" Itachi said matter-of-factly. "Her friends will come up and stay with her after so don't worry, I'm not trying to torture you"

"Fine"

"Good"

Itachi returned to the room, fetching Naruto who was handing Sakura the tablets then notified her that Sasuke was going to stay with her for a short while. She frowned.

"It won't be for long Sakura, just until Tenten and the other girls finish their breakfast then he'll be out of your hair in no time" Itachi gently patted her on the shoulder, looking up as Sasuke slowly entered the room.

Sakura sighed heavily. She was sure that there was going to be a long awkward silence with _him_ around. A silence she knew would tear at her flesh.

Soon after, Itachi and Naruto both exited the room. The latter had whispered something into Sasuke's ear that earned him a glare. She secretly wondered what it was then pushed the thought to the recesses of her mind-maybe she really didn't want to know.

Sasuke had moved to sit in the sofa across from her bed. He gazed blankly at the door, immersed in his silent apathy. _Maybe he wants to leave_ she thought. She really wouldn't mind if he did, then maybe she could swallow her omelet without feeling like throwing it up and her whirlwind of thoughts in her head would cease.

She tossed the pills into her mouth, and then washed them down with a huge gulp of the orange juice she had, and then set the glass on the tray beside her. She really thought this was a bit over the top. Itachi didn't have to get anyone to watch her, Sasuke of all people even at that. She truly was fine. Apart from the headache and a few of her body parts that hurt, she was okay.

She rested back on the pillows, relishing their softness as she thought. That was when she felt Sasuke's eyes on her. She didn't have to look up to notice his staring, his gaze was strong enough. His black endless orbs focused on her, observing, seeing right through her. How ironic she thought.

"How are you feeling?"

She nearly choked on her own saliva as she sat up, flabbergasted. She looked at him questioningly, eyebrows creasing her forehead. "Why are you asking me that? It's not like you care"

He breathed heavily, folding his arms loosely to his chest. "I might not be the most compassionate person in the world but I'm not a monster"

That she found hard to believe then she remembered how he'd defended her against that guy yesterday; but still that didn't change anything. She scoffed, looking away. "O really now? Thought you were the one that hid in my closet"

He sneered, narrowing his eyes at her. "That's not funny"

"It wasn't meant to be. By the way" She looked at him now, curious. "Why are you watching me? Don't you have anything better to do?"

Why was she pushing his angry buttons? He shifted slightly in the coach, tightening his folded arms. "Actually I do, but your _boyfriend_ insisted that I watch your sorry ass". If she wanted him to be insensitive, he'd be insensitive.

Sakura's mouth twisted into a deep scowl. She assumed he was talking about Itachi but calling him her boyfriend. That was absurd. "He's not my boyfriend" She childishly pouted her lips, fingering the petals on her blanket.

Sasuke's eyes steadily remained on her, dark as a moonless night. "I really don't care. Just letting you know why I'm here" His tone was dry, lacking fervor_. Wait, did his words just rhyme? How lame was that_ he thought.

There was silence again.

He had expected her to remain quiet after that but was surprised to hear her speak again.

"You could have said no….why'd you agree to stay with me?" She had so carelessly allowed the words to slip through her lips but she wanted to know. He could have declined. Why was he staying with her if he never had to? And why did he care less what Itachi was to her now when he nearly bit her head off a few days ago declaring that she should stay away from him?

Before he could give her a solid reply, a soft rap was heard on the door. Sasuke's gaze left Sakura and laid upon the entrance before he slowly got up and headed in its direction.

He rested his hand on the knob to open the door but stopped halfway in his movements. Sakura's eyes rested on him, taking in his every move. His back was still turned towards her before he spoke. "By the way, I never pretend to care if I really don't". He proceeded to open the door, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked past Tenten and the other two girls that were outside.

Sakura stared at his disappearing figure, confused. His voice resonated in her head and she refused to believe what he had implied_. Could Sasuke really care about her?_ No, it wasn't plausible; maybe he just meant that he pitied her small accident. Or was it her on a whole? Her head hurt even more and her face was pained. She adjusted her facial expression, smiling and lying back when she saw her friends entering the room.

They silently watched Sasuke go before marching in.

"Hey!" Sakura managed.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Ino ambled towards Sakura's bed and sat beside her on the furniture, checking for a fever while Tenten stood beside her bed and Hinata sat on her sofa.

Sakura looked at her oddly. "You are aware that I only _fell _right? I'm not dying" She playfully slapped Ino's hand from her forehead, sitting up in the process.

"Well Naruto made it sound like you had a stroke or something. Especially when he mentioned that _Sasuke_ was watching you". She smiled mischievously at her friend. "What was it like being _alone_ in your room with him?" Her voice was teasing and obviously insinuating something dirty.

Sakura dramatically grabbed her chest, fake coughing. "Now, I'm going to have a stroke"

Ino laughed loudly. "People don't cough when they're having strokes. Seriously, what was it like?"

Sakura shrugged. "The usual. Silence. We talked a bit but it was pointless conversation" She changed the topic. "So what are we gonna do first for our party prep?" She eyed the three girls expectantly and noticed that they all stared at her similarly, silent and awaiting something. She had an itching feeling that she knew what they wanted.

That didn't mean that she couldn't pretend.

"What?" Sakura looked around at all their faces, knitting her eyebrows in question. If they thought they were going to get any information out of her, they'd have to eat her alive first!

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "What? What do you mean by 'what'? You know _what _we want to know. How'd it go with Sasuke watching you?" She moved from where she was standing and sat beside Hinata on the sofa. "And don't you dare tell us nothing happened because you have that 'something just happened' look on your face" She added.

Sakura lay back on her pillows, waving off Tenten. "Ok, 'naught' happened, zilch". _Was she that transparent?_

Obviously she didn't remember who her friends were: nosy, to the point, and fantastic interrogators. Tenten folded her arms to her chest and went into guilty-girl mode as she stared at Sakura. "You're telling us that you were alone with Sasuke for over twenty minutes and nothing happened and you two are like complete enemies?" She sighed, a sad look appearing on her pretty face as she tore her gaze from Sakura. "It would be such a shame if Sakura wasn't telling us everything girls. Probably we're losing our values as her best friends"

Ino and Hinata had dejected faces too. O, how she wanted to strangle them!

That certainly must have hit some part of her conscience because it never took a minute until Sakura finally relented. What happened to being eaten alive?

"You guys are ruthless you know that" Sakura flung the blankets from off her feet then dangled the appendages over the side of her bed.

"Ruthless, no. Thoughtful, yes" Tenten corrected.

"Sure you are" Sakura quipped. She sighed heavily, falling back on her bed and grimaced when she felt her back hurt on impact. It was not like she really minded telling her friends anything at all because she told them _everything. _It was just that she wasn't quite sure of what happened with her and Sasuke so she wouldn't know exactly what to say. Maybe this was a good thing: their forcing it out of her that is. Maybe then she could discern what he meant.

"Sooooo?" she heard Hinata say anxiouslyawaiting her response.

After several periods of calm persuasion, reluctant moans and impatient "Say it alreadys!", Sakura had managed to tell her best friends everything starting from Sasuke's defending her yesterday to his insinuating that he cared for her. It really wasn't a big deal if you simply looked at it, and if Sakura wasn't in denial but who really knows what Sasuke means when he speaks with implications?

"I think he means what he says" Ino said, chewing on a piece of licorice.

Sakura looked at her wryly. "Which is?"

"That he cares about you silly, what else? Or probably he just feels sorry for you because you fell down the stairs and apparently bounced into him. Then again-" She paused, scrunching up her face trying to make sense out of what she just said then just shook her head in defeat. "Man, I really don't know"

"So much for advice" Sakura retorted, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I think you're making too much of a big deal out of this" Tenten cut in. "Maybe Sasuke-"

Hinata was the last to speak as she interrupted Tenten. "Really now? E-Especially when she kissed him last night?"

The room went silent. Apparently Sakura had forgotten about that. It was thinking about that this morning that had gotten her into this confused mess too.

"True, I saw how he reacted" Ino admitted. "That kiss did something to him"

Sakura could not believe her ears. Weren't they supposed to be bringing her to the light? Not send her spiraling deeper into the web on confusion she was in. Although admittedly, she knew Ino was right. Sasuke had reacted oddly to that _stupid_ kiss. O how she wanted to roast Naruto over a stove! "I'm sure that kiss meant nothing to him. Come on guys, it was just a game" Denial, denial, denial kept screaming at her in her head.

"If you say so, but did it mean something to you?" Tenten patiently awaited an answer as she stared at Sakura who seemed to be drifting in another world, lost.

* * *

><p>"Teme! Fancy seeing you here" Naruto walked down Sasuke who was headed towards the kitchen, grinning widely at him.<p>

"This is my house you idiot" He stopped at the fridge and grabbed a very red tomato, then went to the sink to wash it. "By the way, what do you want?" Sasuke bit into the tomato's juiciness, grabbing a napkin from the counter to wipe his mouth.

"Thought you'd never ask. How about we hang out and play some video games. You don't have anything important to do now do you?" Naruto's grin widened as he leaned on the counter opposite to Sasuke.

Sasuke glared at him with murderous intent. What was Naruto up to? "Not right now, but I'm not in the mood for video games either"

Naruto whined. "Come on teme, stop being such a pain" A mischievous smile then tugged at his lips. "Are you afraid I beat your ass in whatever game we play". Sasuke was never one to back down from a challenge especially one that included Naruto and he knew that. The guys were eternal rivals for heaven's sake!

Sasuke scoffed, washing his hands at the sink. "Like you can beat me in anything dead last"

"Ok then" Naruto conceded. "Let's put it to the test"

Sasuke smirked. "You're on"

They both made their way to the games room and decided on playing Halo 4. Naruto plopped down in one of the four leather couches in front of the wide screened TV after Sasuke had inserted the game and took his seat in an adjacent couch. Immediately, they began playing, both determined to win.

Sasuke had killed Naruto's player a few times more than Naruto had killed his putting him in the lead. He wore a calm, confident look on his face, only to have it disappear when he noticed that Naruto was catching up to him.

"Not so smug again Sasuke? I'm beating you're ass!" Naruto had his eyes glued to the screen, fingers harshly gripping his controller as he aggravated Sasuke.

"Not on your life dobe! I'm gonna win this!" Sasuke growled through clenched teeth. He wouldn't be able to live it down if Naruto won him. The idiot would brag about it for days!

The game was almost finished, both players fighting for the trophy tooth and nail until finally!

"Noooooooo!" Naruto cried in defeat. He was so close to beating Sasuke and he almost made it.

Sasuke gave Naruto a self-satisfied smile as he relaxed into the couch. "Told you, you couldn't beat me"

Naruto frowned then suddenly started smiling. What the heck anyway, the game wasn't even the reason he wanted to hang out with Sasuke, he had other things in mind. "Ok, you won this round but next time, I guarantee that I'll win"

"Sure" Sasuke mocked. He was about to head out when Naruto stopped him.

"What do you want now?" Sasuke never thought twice about showing his annoyance.

"To talk" Naruto answered simply.

"To talk? Seriously, that's why you're breathing down my neck?"

"What's wrong with that?" Naruto asked, twisting in his seat. "I haven't talked to you in a while, mano a mano. How are you?"

Sasuke glared. True that he hadn't spoken to Naruto in a while about anything much but the guy was still a bit too much. "I'm fine"

"So, you never told me about that Sudeki girl you've been hanging with. How close are you two?"

Sasuke was disbelieved. "That's what this is about?". Unbelievable.

Naruto smirked. "Among other things, yes. So tell me, what's up between you two?"

_If you only knew _Sasuke thought. "Nothing, she's just a friend"

Naruto gave a soft laugh. "Just a friend? Ok, I can live with that but you were so hell bent on not accepting any girls into your life. Even as _friends" _He added. "Why the change of thought?"

_Itachi, that's who._ "People's minds are susceptible to change Naruto, it happens. Mind you, I don't like her as you may believe in any way. I'm just being nice, now get off my back"

At this Naruto started to laugh. He was laughing so hard, he had to hold his stomach, pleading for it to stop hurting him. "Seriously. You just put yourself and nice in the same sentence" He pointed at Sasuke with one hand, holding his tummy with the other.

Sasuke scowled. "Funny" He bit-back.

"O come on teme. What about Sakura? Have you ever been _nice_ to her?" He paused and awaited an answer from Sasuke but one never came, only a piercing glare. He never expected one anyway so he continued. "Speaking of my favorite female friend, when since did you two become this estranged?"

Sasuke sighed. Naruto was obviously planning on talking about everything this morning and he wasn't in the mood to. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Why don't you ask her since she's your favorite female friend?"

"Probably I will, but that's beside the point now anyway" He gave Sasuke a nifty smile then continued. "You seemed to have felt something when she kissed you last night" He looked at the Uchiha expectantly.

Now Sasuke was annoyed. Naruto intended on ruining his perfectly _good _morning, or what was left of it that is since Itachi had tarnished it when he had directed him to stay with Sakura. His eyes flashed in the blonde's direction. "You're delusional" He got up and set back the controllers in their rightful places.

"And you my friend" Naruto got up too and flung an arm around Sasuke's neck. "Are in denial"

"And you'll be in the hospital if you don't take your hand off of me" Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and threw it off his shoulders. "I didn't feel anything, it was just a game dobe" Of course he was lying through his teeth but Naruto wasn't going to get the better of him. He didn't feel like talking about it anyway.

"If you say so, but I think otherwise"

"Whatever floats your boat. Anyway I don't have the entire morning to waste, I have things to do, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going" Sasuke turned on his heels and headed through the doors leaving Naruto alone in the room.

The blonde sunk in his seat smiling to himself. Sasuke was slowly falling for Sakura and he knew it, if only Sasuke would admit it to himself. He'd just have to wait until the Uchiha blossomed from his denial. Really, who knew Sasuke more than he did?

* * *

><p>"Ok, I'll be there in half an hour. Just don't do anything stupid" Itachi told the person on the other side of the phone. He was standing in kitchen, when he caught Sasuke walking past to head into the living room. Just the person he wanted to see. "Sasuke!" He called. "Wait a bit"<p>

Sasuke came to a sudden halt, irritated to the bone. What did his brother want now? "Yeah? What?"

Itachi didn't bother hesitating, despite his brother's sour attitude. He needed this favour to be done right away. "I'm going to need you to drive the girls to the spa for me. I just made an appointment for them"

Sasuke hissed. "Why can't you do it?"

"I have to pick up Yuri from the airport. Remember that every one of our family members will be at the annual ball tonight, it's ceremonial. Now don't argue with me now, unless you'd rather pick him up" Itachi knew Sasuke would literally rather die than pick up _that _cousin. It was simple really. Sasuke hated Yuri for many reasons than one. Even he himself had not taken a liking to that kin but had to tolerate anyway.

Sasuke frowned. Great, it was either 'babysit' his so called _friends _or pick up the devil's reincarnate. He'd settle for the former. He sighed in defeat as he massaged his temples. "Fine, I'll take them"

Itachi smiled. "Ok, good. Just let them know that they're going, I have to leave now". He headed out of the kitchen and into the driveway to his black Ferrari; in another minute he was gone.

Sasuke headed towards the elevator and into the direction of a certain someone's room. There goes his perfectly good day. He sighed.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe that Itachi made spa reservations for us! He's awesome!" Ino was completely thrilled when she found out about the spa reservations and was extra delighted when she heard that it was a complete package. Hell yeah baby! Now she was enjoying her week.<p>

"We should thank him when we get back" Tenten interjected.

"Yeah" Hinata agreed. Of course she was used to spas and the works but she really did appreciate what Itachi had done.

Naruto had tagged along with them claiming that he didn't want to be cooped up in the mansion for the day. He sat beside his girlfriend, looking through the window while the girls spoke.

Sudeki was with them also. Apparently she was just as excited as Ino when Sasuke came into the kitchen and snatched her away for the morning claiming that he was taking the girls to the spa. Elated she was, as she jumped into the black Hummer that Sasuke had driven to accommodate everyone who had come. He wasn't too thrilled about the idea and neither was Sakura. She was the real reason Itachi had made the reservations. He thought that a nice massage would help her back and so instead of bringing in one; he'd sent them all to the spa instead.

Unlike everyone else who was beaming, Sakura only gave half smiles and half-hearted responses when she was spoken to. She had to sit in the front passenger seat because of her state although she was beginning to feel much better but that was beside the point. That meant she had to sit beside Sasuke. O great, just the icing she needed on her cake. She'd had rather Itachi drive them to their destination, then she wouldn't have to feel so uncomfortable sitting beside her current neighbor. He didn't even seem to take notice of her that much and she still felt uneasy. It was just the perfect timing for her to regress into her childish self when she actually liked him. Curse that kiss! Curse him for implying that he cared about her!

She snapped out of her train of thoughts when Sasuke pulled up into a spacious parking lot surrounded by palm trees and golden gates. Or so she thought because the gates did look golden. Her eyes caught a sign that read 'Golden Garden's Spa and Hot Springs.'

Everyone jumped out of the vehicle, beaming as they looked around the expansive area while Sakura still sat in the car. Sasuke who was exiting through the driver's door stared at her and shook his head. He went around to her door, opened it and was about to help her out.

"What are you doing?" Came a very snippy voice.

O great, what did it look like he was doing? Helping the invalid obviously. "We're here if you haven't noticed so I'm taking you out of the car. I need to lock it and go inside" He stared at her coolly, matter-of-factly even in that.

"I can get up myself you know. I still have legs" She said sardonically, stretching her feet out of the van.

He gave her way as she easily helped herself out. She seemed to have been recovering fast he thought, as he noted that she never winced in pain as she did when she fell.

They all headed into the spa's direction and sat in the comfy chairs upon arriving in the waiting room.

Sasuke went to sort out the appointment they had made with the woman at the front desk who kept on giving him alluring smiles. He wisely ignored them and went back to the group when he was finished. He was told to wait a few minutes until someone attended to them, so he sat comfortably in the seat beside Naruto, slumping over with his elbows on his knees and his fingers knitted together.

"So teme, plan on getting a massage?" Naruto was grinning at him roguishly.

"No dobe, I'm not doing anything"

Naruto scowled at him. "You can't come here and not do anything. Gosh you need to get out more. Let's hit the hot springs" A smile returned on his lips.

"I said n-"

"Good morning" A chirpy voice said in front of them. "Welcome to Golden Garden's Spa and Hot Springs. My name is Arakaki Kioshi and I will be your therapeutic manager for today"

"Good morning" The group chorused.

After a bit more conversation the girls headed off to receive their spa treatment while Naruto and Sasuke sat in the waiting room.

"That is it! I need to relax too and you obviously need it more than I do so come on!" Naruto grabbed an angry Sasuke's hand and headed for the hot springs. The blonde wise ignored the curses that the Uchiha threw at him knowing that the Uchiha would soon concede.

* * *

><p>"That was awesome!" Tenten threw her hands in the air and stretched as she and the rest of their group headed towards the car.<p>

"That was more than awesome" Ino joined. "It's a mixture of breathtaking, relaxing and amazing" She climbed into the car beside Tenten and the others.

Even Sasuke didn't seem as tense as usual. He mounted into the driver's seat and started the car after everyone was in, headed off for home when Itachi called and asked him to pick up take out for lunch at some fast food restaurant. That was when his edgy-self returned. They didn't have cooks for nothing!

He took a glimpse at Sakura as he drove. She seemed pretty relaxed and that was exactly how she felt.

Sakura smiled peacefully to herself mostly because all her pain was gone. That masseuse was heaven-sent. She also enjoyed the other treatments and right now she felt fresh and renewed. Who knew that a spa could have that effect?

They had quickly gotten six large pizzas with varying toppings from Pizza Hut and headed back towards the house. Upon reaching the mansion, they carried the pizzas into the kitchen while Sasuke parked the car. That was when Sakura met Uchiha Yuri.

He sat at the counter munching on a small cheese sandwich and looked up when he heard the bunch of chattering teenagers his age (because he was eighteen) entering through the door. His eyes quickly fell on the pink-haired beauty (as he so put it) and wasted no time in going over to her, attempting to charm her caring less if she had a boyfriend.

"Surely I never knew that angels walked the surface of the earth" He was in front of Sakura in no time who had been conversing with Ino. All eyes stared at him in curiosity.

She wondered who this dude with tacky pick-up lines was. When she observed his features, she could almost tell.

Yuri Uchiha: tall, handsome (he sported the Uchiha features of dark eyes and hair), highly aristocratic, extremely rich, positively annoying, narcissistic, flirtatious and absolutely a pain in the ass. She had read about him a few times in the gossip mags she'd browsed through and upon meeting him she could already ascertain a hundred reasons she didn't like him.

He gave her an extremely enthralling smile as he grabbed her hand and slobbered a kiss that was way too wet on it. Sakura nearly died, grossed out to the max. She was almost tempted to grab the butcher knife that was beside her and chop off the appendage. She settled for quickly drawing it back and furiously wiping in on her blouse.

He frowned at her.

Sasuke had come in immediately after them and as soon as he did, his eyes met Yuri's, darkness reflecting itself. Yuri smirked at him. "Well hello there favourite cousin, long time no see"

Sasuke glared at him to no end. _Favourite cousin?_ Yuri seemed unaffected by the dangerous stare as he kept smiling. If the devil roamed the earth in flesh, Sasuke was convinced he had possessed Yuri's body. Maybe the fact that the boy was Uchiha Madara's son, an uncle that Sasuke didn't particularly like contributed to his dislike for him or maybe not. Yuri was just naturally disgusting. His personality was innate.

Itachi had entered the kitchen a few minutes after, Neji and Shikamaru behind him. Apparently Shikamaru preferred sleeping to going out or doing anything else so he stayed behind and Neji had an essay to finish up for school on Monday.

"So have you all met my cousin?" He assumed that Sasuke would not have introduced him although Yuri wasn't anything close to shy, especially in a room full of girls. They may have read about him in a magazine or two but he still had to give introductions and so he did.

Yuri had kissed all the girl's hands, earning glares from their boyfriends and the occasional 'eews' and 'gross' from the girls themselves. Obviously he had a death wish Sakura thought.

They had dispersed after that, having lunch in the games room instead of the dining room. Some had snoozed after lunch, others doing something or the other and the girls completing their party prep evening. Nearly everyone was excited for what that evening had to offer. Nearly.

* * *

><p>The Vale Royale Ball was an annual event held at various hotels each year. It was put on by four of the largest companies in Japan, the Uchihas included and was the site of many business, engagement, wedding anniversaries and whatever else announcement was there to mention. It was never held at the same time each year so there was always some spontaneity to it and the themes were always changed. Much planning and preparation went into its conception each year and anyone who was invited to it was considered as honored and fortunate. This year it was a masquerade ball.<p>

Sasuke begged to differ because he thought it was way overrated, a way for such companies to exercise their power and prestige. Then again that was his view. Those who wanted to go but couldn't, would have something much different to say.

No sooner had they reached the premises of the Hyuga hotel, a bunch of anxious reporters flocked their limos. They weren't even there for a minute. His parents had waltzed out unto the red carpet, collecting a series of cheers from the public and camera lights flashing their way. Of course everyone was dying to get a shot of them since the Uchihas were one of the founding fathers of the event.

Itachi came out next wearing a silken black tuxedo, a charming smile and a simple titanium Rolex watch with diamond studs inside of it. His hair was caught into a lose pony in his back and on his arms, was his date, Sakura. She wore a satin sapphire gown that accentuated her almost curvy figure, trailing down her hips tightly and flaring off her legs in a fishtail ending that resembled the sea when she walked. The dress bodice had black trims around the ends and was patterned with black silken threads in graceful curves. The top of the dress as did the bottom had a slit that revealed a shimmering silver satin, laced with black silken ribbons ending in bows of three ascending sizes. Her hair came down her back in tresses of small pink ringlets, a strand on either side of her head pinned with sparkling sapphire butterfly clips that reflected the light of the cameras as did her silver necklace and drop earrings with small diamond studs. Beautiful could not sufficiently describe her; she was a goddess. Both wore their black lace masks in place.

Sasuke had made his way out after Itachi wearing a simple dark, navy blue silken tuxedo. His bangs apparently hid his face from the camera, but he brushed them away, looking up at the people around him to be polite. The girls outside, he could hear, were screaming out their throats at him hoping to get noticed. He carried his mask in his hand instead of wearing it. His counterpart Sudeki, who was a novice to such events, stared shyly at the cameras. She wore a simple magenta satin dress that stopped a little above her knees. The dress had clung to her torso but spread off her body because of the lace and tulle lining underneath it. Her brunette hair was pinned in curls on her head with several strands dangling loose around her ears. She too was beautiful, and the jewelry she wore glistened in the light.

Shikamaru strolled out of the limo behind Sasuke. His tuxedo was white, almost resembling those that princes wore in fairytales. He flinched at all the lights flashing in his direction, many wondering who he was. What a drag, he thought. He'd rather be in his bed snoozing than at this stupid thing but what the heck. His princess, Ino wore an exquisite gown in golden yellow, white and black. The bust and sides of the dress clung to her torso, and then trailed off at her waist in threads of golden yellow ending on the floor. She had to hold up the sides to prevent her from tripping; hardly being able to see through the white lace mask she was wearing. Her long blonde hair was loosely caught to the side of her head, trailing down her shoulder in big shiny curls.

Yuri had entered the banquet hall with the other Uchihas, including his father while Neji and Hinata had gone in with the Hyugas, Tenten and Naruto as their dates respectively. Tenten had worn a purple dress that clung to her bodice and ended just above her knees while Hinata had worn a fashionable fishtail mustard green dress with black lace covering the bodice in an exquisite pattern. All the girls looked extremely beautiful and the guys were absolutely charming.

Sakura sat down at one of the tables covered with fine tablecloths and surrounded by cushioned chairs halfway through the ball staring at the people around her unable to identify enough faces. She hardly knew most of the people at her own table although they were a part of the Uchiha family. Sasuke's upcoming birthday was announced at the festivity and everyone cheered him on. He obviously hated it.

They had just finished serving the main course for the night and people who had finished eating, chatted a bit and decided that they had no intention of keeping on what they had consumed filled the dance floor as a soft classical tune filled the air. She watched them and smiled then turned around to the figure standing in front of her.

Itachi's dark eyes shone at Sakura in utter amusement, his hand outstretched. "Care to dance my lady?"

She looked up at him, just as amused. "Of course" She laughed as she took his hand and went out into the clearing for a dance.

Sasuke's eyes followed them around the room, unintentionally not paying enough attention to Sudeki who sat beside him. "You admire her don't you?" He turned around when her voice met his ears.

"Why would you assume that?" Inwardly he felt like strangling himself for not keeping his eyes on her, and then maybe he wouldn't have to feel so guilty right now.

She smiled at him, saccharinely and innocent. "It's ok you know. I actually think you two would go well with each other"

Why wasn't she furious? And she thought he and Sakura would go well together? The thought almost made him laugh but he remained composed. He gave her a questioning look and she laughed.

"I might as well tell you. Actually I have taken an interest in your brother so if you think I'd be hurt if you liked Sakura, I wouldn't be. Besides we're just friends anyway" That bright smile still remained on her lips.

Truly, Sudeki did mean every word she said. Initially, she had favored Sasuke but after hanging out with Itachi, she decided that she preferred him. Itachi was just so easy and down to earth, something that she had discovered that Sasuke wasn't.

Sasuke should have been relieved to hear what Sudeki had said but a part of him was disappointed. She had taken a liking to his brother? O great, even if he didn't like her in that way, it would have been helpful if she did him. So technically his plan to get back at Itachi was flushed down the drain. So much for trying. It ticked him off though that Itachi was actually winning this game of his and there wasn't much he could do about it. Or was there?

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I really do not admire Sakura" He completely ignored what she had said about Itachi. He figured it didn't matter anyway. He flashed her a charming smile deciding that it wouldn't hurt to still attempt his plan anyway despite the circumstances. "May I have this dance?"

She seemed a bit surprised at first but agreed. "Sure"

Sakura noticed Sasuke coming on the dance floor with Sudeki when Itachi had given her a twirl. Well that was completely unexpected. Sasuke and dancing? Who would have thought? She supposed it was the fact that he had been given lessons in the activity due to his patrician nature.

Itachi glimpsed her eyeing Sasuke and decided to push his meddling a little further. He danced his way over to where they were after a lively tune sprouted from the speakers. Although he had successfully brought himself and Sakura closer to Sasuke, the action had resulted in Sakura bouncing into a waltzing couple, the female dropping her purse. Sakura who was unaware of what Itachi was doing quickly knelt down to pick up the item, splitting the seams in the back of her dress in the process. The music was too loud for her to hear when it happened, and oddly she didn't feel her once tight dress slightly loosen. Itachi hadn't noticed it either.

"I'm sorry" A smile. "Here" Sakura handed the lady the article who returned her smile then headed with her partner across the dance floor.

Sakura who was a bit embarrassed turned to Itachi with a small scowl on her lips. He held her hands as he danced and apologized for what happened.

She shrugged, dismissing the incident. "It's ok"

He continued to dance with her for several minutes, Sasuke and Sudeki dancing a few yards away from them. Itachi then gave Sasuke who was glaring at him a knowing smirk. "Hey Sakura, let's switch partners"

She looked up at him nonplussed when he held her hand and sauntered closer to the waltzing pair. "You don't mind if we switch partners for a while do you?" Itachi looked at the slightly younger Uchiha coolly, his voice suave.

Sasuke stopped dancing with Sudeki and looked to her for approval, despite him not wanting to favour Itachi's request. He couldn't understand it though. Why would Itachi want to switch partners with him? That would mean he would be dancing with Sakura and Itachi wouldn't want that since his aim is to make Sasuke jealous unless his brother had a thing for Sudeki. It didn't make much sense. What was his brother up to?

Sudeki nodded at Sasuke. "Sure, why not?"

Itachi turned to Sakura who seemed completely engulfed in another world. "You don't mind do you Sakura?"

She returned from planet 'I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS', a forced smile forming on her lips. "Uh…sure…it's okay"

She watched as Sudeki accepted Itachi's outstretched hand then walked to some other part of the dance floor. Both she and Sasuke just stood there; him with his hands stuffed into his side pockets and she with her eyes glued to everywhere else except on Sasuke's face. She felt utterly childish.

Sasuke sighed. This was going to be a long night. Of course he didn't mind dancing with Sakura because that was simple enough; he'd been to the finest classes for that. It's just that _this _was awkward and juvenile: him and her standing there that is. He decided that if they were going to do this, he might as well get over himself and get right to it.

Sakura was nothing short of surprised when she felt Sasuke grasp her hand gently and slide his arm around her waist. Her eyelids fluttered as she looked up at him, that childish butterfly fluster returning when his hands made contact with her. She tried to ignore it. "What are you doing?"

"Dancing, what does it look like?" He said casually, continuing the action.

She looked down at their feet as they moved on the floor and suddenly she felt nostalgia hit her in a wave of emotions. As his scent filled her nose and his warmth radiated off on her, all of her childish feelings for Sasuke that were rekindled by that stupid kiss returned. _Curse him for having this effect on her!_

She didn't feel like dancing anymore and so a minute after that when Sasuke gave her a gentle twirl, she let go off his hand about to saunter away to her seat when she felt strong arms pull her back.

She frowned at Sasuke, she wanted to be out of his air. "What the hell are you doing?" Her hands jerked in his grip.

"I'm saving you some embarrassment. You'll thank me later" He had noticed the tear in her dress when she had turned away to leave.

What was he talking about? She looked at him quizzically still frowning." What are you talking about?"

He ignored her. "Turn around and dance with your back towards me"

Had he mistakenly drunk some alcohol? What did he think she was? An exotic dancer? "I think you've lost it"

"O really now?" He whispered, his head slightly bent to her height. "I think there's a mighty long rip up your butt"

"What?" she gripped the back of her dress, running her fingers down her derriere and did indeed find a rip there. Suddenly she could feel the coolness of the night air tingle her buns. She started to panic. "O my God"

Sasuke shook his head, indicating that she should calm down. "Just do as I say and this won't end ugly. If you start a scene, the paparazzi will be on you like flies. Now walk in front of me and head for the nearest entrance" Why he suddenly felt the need to help her, he had no idea. Maybe it was that kiss. He'd been thinking about it all morning after all.

"I don't want you so close behind me" She retorted.

Why was she being so difficult? He wasn't the one sporting a rip up their ass. "Well I don't want to be so close to you either but I'm helping you remember? So hurry and start walking"

She should have worn shorts but how could she have expected this? She hesitantly did as he asked and soon they were both outside in the lobby. A heavy exhale escaped her lips as she continued until she was outside in the parking lot. Surprisingly Sasuke followed right behind her.

"I can't believe this is happening" She murmured as she walked towards the limo they had arrived in. She leaned on the vehicle, arms folded to her chest and looking like she was about to cry. "I can bet you're enjoying this" She looked up at Sasuke, her eyes brimming with tears ready to flow" _Why did bad things always seem to like happening to her? _And to think that she thought that Sasuke driving her to the spa was the icing on her cake; this was the cherry on top!

He was leaning on the other limo parked opposite of the one she was on, hands stuffed into his pockets while he looked up at the starry sky. A gentle gust blew by rustling his bangs as he looked at her, eyes dark as midnight. He sighed. "Why is that?"

She frowned biting back the tears that had started to trail down her pretty face. "Because you enjoy seeing me miserable" She sniffled, using one hand to wipe away a fallen tear.

He groaned, walking over to her and handing her a handkerchief from his pocket. "Really? Am I smiling now? Here" Like he ever smiled that much.

She looked at the offered article for a long time before slowly taking it from him to dab away her tears and blow her nose. She then looked up at him curiously. "Why are you being nice to me?"

"O really? I'm being _nice_? Thought I was you're closet monster" _Nice_ he thought. An odd word to use and describe him but he found himself being exactly that these days.

She smiled at his sarcasm, tears still streaming down her cheeks. Strange she thought. Why was she smiling? "Ok, fine" She relented, sniveling. "Maybe you're not as evil as I thought you were…but you're never this pleasant"

"Yeah, well…sometimes people have reasons for what they are like" He had that distant faraway look in his eyes. Strangely pensive and dejected.

Sakura then remembered Itachi making mention of Sasuke's 'reasons' for why he was Sasuke. She thought she knew all there was to know about him but seeing him standing there right now, despondency and loneliness gracing his features she suddenly wanted to know him more. She didn't know where this sudden urge of curiosity and interest came from but she let it get the better of her. "Sasuke?" She paused then continued when he looked at her, ignorant of how tender the topic was. "Why are you the way you are?"

That question Sasuke certainly didn't expect, especially from Sakura. No one had ever asked him that before. He remained quiet for a while; the hotel lights casting shadows on his face making him look ethereal.

Sakura knew she was overstepping some unseen barrier but she did truly want to know. When he never answered she supposed he wasn't going to tell her. And that was okay she guessed. Maybe it was one of his secrets he kept from the world. So she just stood there in the silence that she usually hated (because this silence was different) and looked up at the sky as he previously did.

"I just woke up one morning and the world seemed empty… meaningless"

Sakura was startled when she heard his voice, soft, forlorn and just so Sasuke, her heart quivered. His murky pools off black were on her she noticed.

Sasuke for one had no idea why he was telling Sakura this. It wasn't simply because she asked. No, it was more than that he guessed but he just had no idea why. He continued. "I recognized how many people were corrupted by greed, their riches, desires and suddenly nothing really mattered. The world didn't mean much anymore and people I guess; only my family had meaning" _Some of them that is._ He thought upon remembering Madara and Yuri, the only ones affected by the riches they had.

Of course Sasuke was naturally reserved and cool because the Uchiha blood _did_ run through his veins but other things made him what he was. He looked up at the sky, observing the dark clouds rolling up ahead. "We should probably get inside the car, it's going to rain"

No sooner had he spoken, small patters of raindrops started to sprinkle on them. Luckily both limo doors were open so Sasuke went into the one he was leaning on and Sakura into the other.

Both teenagers sat comfortably in the vehicles, deep in thought until the rest of the group arrived then went home.

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><p>Later that night Sakura lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling thinking as the rain poured outside. She had thought about every word Sasuke had said since they had boarded the limos and all the way back to his house. She wanted to understand him; his meaning for everything. She didn't think the world was that bad; yes it had its downfalls but still, there were so many things to be happy about.<p>

She shouldn't have wanted to comprehend him. Gosh, it was Sasuke and she hated him. But after that kiss, her thoughts were upside down, muddled and twisted and she found that she couldn't help herself.

It was strange she thought before she fell asleep, how at the start of a week two people can be complete arch enemies and at the near end, one of them yearns to understand the other.

I hope you enjoyed this chap although it was a bit long. I'll be looking out for your reviews! If you noticed, I introduced a new character, Yuri. His purpose is really to create a negative character, one that replaces Sasuke as an antagonist therefore pushing Sasuke and Sakura together.

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><p>In the next chapter, Sakura will discover that Sasuke isn't that bad of a person especially when compared to Yuri coupled with his slightly changed behaviour towards her.<p> 


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